Always expect the unexpected
by Ania the Dragon
Summary: Just one small thing can make the biggest difference. And one person can change the whole story. What would happen if that person was Solomon? Only, he's not the king of Alma Torran... or is he?
1. Chapter 1

¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

A/N **: I don't own Magi!**

 _Okay, this one literally came out of nowhere. I was watching some AMVs and then I though of how the whole story would be different if Solomon was still alive. And then wham, this. Well, I didn't exactly resurrect Solomon, but I bend the rules of MAGI universe in rather unexpected way. Well, this whole thing is an experiment. I shall see how it turns out. Also, this is my first story fully written in English, so please, be kind. :)_

* * *

Dying is indeed a strange experience. And not because it is unexpected – in most cases, anyway – but because it is somewhat unreal. And no, your life does not flash in front of your eyes. At least mine didn't.

Although that may be because my life wasn't all that exciting. Or long. I was barely an adult, damn it! Yet here I was, dying in the most cliché way possible.

I pushed a crying child out of the road and was hit by a car. I saved an innocent life at the cost of my own. But I didn't mind at all.

Or I wouldn't mind, if my death was peaceful. It was not, however. It was long and painful, because the car broke my ribs and the ribs then pierced through my lungs.

So here I was, slowly choking to death, the whole world floating around me and the only sound I could hear clearly was... It would be nice to say my own hearbeat, but it was actually Hikaru's yelling. Yeah. No dying in peace for me, I guess.

I was sad, though. Because I was this close to finally getting it... And Hikaru looked so happy...

I coughed up more blood and I could feel my eyes closing. Uh. The pain was slowly fading away, and I think I even managed to smile. And then it was over.

My name is Solomon, I lived on Earth for 19 years and died saving someone else. That should be the end of the story, but with a name like this, I should have really known better.

* * *

When I came to my senses again, my first thought was „Ouch." My head was killing me, which was strange, since dead souldn't feel any pain, right?

I tried to open my eyes and immediately regretted it. Sharp white light blinded me and I quickly shut my eyes. Next time I was more careful. And slower.

For a while, the only thing I could see was... well, all I could see was white. Shimmering white, that seemed to move. Huh.

I slowly sat and looked around. Yep, everything was still white, but now I could see strange birdlike creatures all over this place. I blinked. The I finally stood up, and come face-to-face...with myself.

Same blue eyes, same dark blue hair in a long braid. In short, the only difference were our clothes. I wore the same clothes I died in (white t-shirt and jeans, nothing special), whereas he was dressed in something that could easily fit in „The arabian nights".

I slowly blinked and he smiled. Then he stretched out his hand and simply said _„Hi."_

My own reaction was another blink. Then I somewhat reluctantly grasped his hand. His smile widened and I felt corners of my own lips curl up. This whole situation was surreal, but I wasn't really surprised, for some reason.

„ _This is fascinating, we really do look the same."_ Wow, even his voice sounded like mine!

„I noticed. So, mind telling me what's going on? Because I'm pretty sure I died."

„ _You wake up to see someone who looks just like you, and yet you ask about the situation and not the person in front of you? Peculliar."_

„ **He actually lacks this thing know as 'common sense', you know,"** answered a voice I knew so well, but did not expect to hear ever again.

I turned around and threw myself at the mountain of scales and feathers that was Hikaru.

„ **Ouuch, stop pulling my feathers, you blue-haired idiot!"** Just to make things clear, Hikaru is a dragon. White dragon, with silvery feathers adorning his wings and head.

„No~o! You're so fluffy~!" I admit that I was acting like a child, but hey, I thought I'll never see him again. My look-alike was watching us with amused look on his – my – face. Ugh, this was so strange! I reluctantly let go of Hikaru and looked at him again.

„Um, so, explanation?"

„ _Oh yes. That would be nice, wouldn't it?"_

„ **Indeed it would."** Hikaru sounded curious. Uh. That's never a good thing...

„ _I'll try to explain things as best as I am able to. However, that doesn't mean you'll understand everything."_

„Well, I die and the I wake up to meet my look-alike. Figures it would be complicated."

„ _Isn't it always?"_ he smiled at me, then continued: _„Alright. First things first. You really died. Your life in your world ended."_

The words „your world" piqued my curiosity.

„ _However, that was just your body. Your soul kind of refused to die."_

„ **That doesn't surprise me. At all. You were always too stubborn for your own good."** Hikaru looked at me, amused. Yeah, that's me alright. Couldn't even die properly.

„ _Allow me to continue. Your soul should have entered the afterlife and then the cycle of reincarnation of your world, but that didn't happen. You would have ended stuck in the world of living as a shade, so I_ _tried_ _to pull you in here. And it worked!"_  
He happily smiled. I just blinked owishly, trying to progress everything he was telling me.

„Alright I think I understand... Somewhat... So, where are we?"

„ **I wonder about that too."**

„You are in a dimension that divides our worlds. Basically."

„ **..."**

„So, you're from another world."

„ _You don't sound very surprised...?"_

„I am not. It actually makes sense. So, am I correct when I asume that you look like me because..."

I knew the answer. Everything sounded so surreal, but I somewhat knew it was true. Everything.

„ _I am you? Yes."_ He smiled, and I did the same. _„You're taking it all rather well."_

„It surprises me too, to be honest. But I somehow know you're not lying. I am not lying. Huh. This is weird."

„ **You're telling me. It is almost scary."** Hikaru was carefully watching us, serious expression on his scaly face.

„Okay, to sum it all: You're me from another world, and you brought me here when I died. Why?"

„ _That is the question, is it not? To put it simply, I need your help."_

„You need help... from yourself. Or alternative version of yourself, anyway. This won't be pretty, will it?" He smiled sadly, and suddenly he seemed very tired. He looked me straight in the eye. Blue met blue.

„ _It is... complicated. Well, everything about my world is. But you need to know this story from the very beggining..."_

* * *

I am pretty sure his story took hours to tell. But time stood still in this place, so it felt like a few minutes. By the end of the story even Hikaru sat still and I felt sympathy towards the other Solomon. He sacrificed so much for his world and said world was now in danger. And all he could do was to sit and watch. Is it that surprising he tried to help in any way he could? Even if it ment bringing me into his world. Because even if this world's Solomon couldn't do a thing, I could. And I would.

I slowly stood up and he was watching my every move, waiting. I stretched my legs a little and then I smiled at him. He blinked and stood as well. Hikaru was eyeing us like a hawk its prey. He was tense, I could tell. He wasn't sure what I would do. But I already decided.

I looked my look-alike in the eye and grinned.

„So, what's our first move?"


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: **I don't own Magi!**

 _Wow, I certainly didn't expect anybody to like this story at all! As I said earlier, it is an experiment of sorts, so… I wasn't really sure about this whole think. But you liked it, and even reviewed! Thank you so, soo much! This is another introductory chapter, but we will finally proceed to some action in the next one. You don't necessarily need to be up to date with the manga to understand this story, but there will be spoilers. Duh. Consider yourselves warned! You wanted update as soon as possible, so I decided to spare you any additional waiting and post it unbetaed. So yeah, there are probably grammar errors, mistakes and such. Once my beta finishes this chapter, I'll re-post it. Also, this is my first story fully written in English, so please be kind :)_

 _Special thanks to those who reviewed:_ _ **XionKirana, Nights of Fire, Silv3rR0s3**_ _  
_ _As for_ _ **Yellowie17**_ _– thank you very much for your words! I hope I won't disappoint you. Do not worry, I don't abandon stories – once I start, I shall see it to the very end. Sometimes it takes me longer to update, but that is usually because of school (yay for university life…) and because my beta can't work 27/7. Buut, I'll try my best!_

 **Warnings: Spoilers! Unbetaed! (Grammar errors are to be expected!)**

* * *

Our first move turned out to be very simple… in theory. Because, you know, it only involved dimension hopping. What could possibly go wrong? And yeah. I'm sarcastic when I'm nervous. And I was really, really nervous back then.

Well, the concept of magic wasn't completely foreign to me, no. But magic in the other Solomon's world worked differently than in mine, although the main principle was the same. Magic is, basically, all about energy and how you manipulate said energy. So no, the magic itself didn't scare me. It was the fact that literally anything could happen, and the other me didn't seem to be very sure of what he was doing. So forgive me for being a little bit anxious.

Hikaru, on the other hand, seemed just fine. No surprises here, he's a freaking dragon and thus pretty hard to scare. His only fear is actually being forced to watch the Harry Potter movies again. But shhhh, that's a secret.

„ _Okay,"_ the other Solomon turned to me a smiled a somewhat nervous smile. Then he pulled a big golden staff out of nowhere and hit the ground with the end of the staff. The white butterflies – who were apparently called ‚Rukh' – took off the ground (Was there even a ground in this place? Better not think about it too hard, I guess…) and scattered around him.

„ _Are you ready?"_

„ **Yes."**

„No, but it's not like it matters. Let's get on with this and hope we don't end… well, dead. For good."

„ **Aren't you a ray of sunshine today?"**

„Hey, I died. I think I am allowed to sulk."

„ _Alright, here we go~!"_

And then – a blinding white light.

* * *

We made it in one piece, much to my delight. I didn't have an idea if we ended up in the right place or not, because I was preoccupied with checking my limbs. Yeah, I still had all four and no extra ones. Good.

Hikaru was lazily lying nearby. He didn't seem to be shaken by our little trans-dimensional trip, but then again, this was Hikaru. He probably found it amusing or something. Overall, everything seemed to be fine… only that it wasn't.

„Hey… weren't you supposed to be out there with the butterflies and stuff…?"

„ _Well… yes. That should have happened. However, it appears that my consciousness stayed with you."_

Yeah. I really should have seen it coming. Because nothing ever goes according the plan.

„Just to make this clear – you're stuck in my head."

„ _So it seems."_

„Okayy… What does this make us – me? You technically are another me… Does this mean I am now schizophrenic…?"

Hikaru found it extremely amusing. I though it was confusing.

„ _Er, I don't think so? Or do you feel schizophrenic?"_

„Honestly, I'm not sure how to feel…"

„ **Well, you were already weird. Now you're just weirder!"**

„Yeah, thank you. That was so very helpful, Hikaru!"

„ **Don't be such a baby…"**

„It's easy for you to talk, you're not the one with another version of yourself in your head!"

„ _I advise not to think about it too hard. Your head will start to hurt and consequently will mine. But let me assure you, it's weird for me too."_

„Heh. Sorry."

„ **Alright boys. I say we move on and figure out where exactly we are…"**

* * *

As it turned out, we were in the place the other me wanted us to be. Which was good. It was a huge place that reminded me of a palace, because of all that gold. It was glittering in the soft light that was seemingly coming out of nowhere. The rukh was all around -us-, fluttering almost happily. I could tell that Hikaru liked this place and frankly, so did I. It was serene, but more importantly, it had books.

Billions of books, carefully stacked in what I guessed were shelves. Yep, this was a nice place. Very nice. And yeah, I am a bookworm. Sue me.

I also managed to check my clothes while exploring this strange palace. I found out that I was now wearing the exact same clothes I saw other me in. They were odd (especially the harem pants), but comfortable and did not restrict my movements, which was important. That surprised me, because I expected the pants to be hard to move in. Luckily, this wasn't the case.

* * *

I don't know how much time I spent walking through the palace. It may have been hour, or mere minutes – it was hard to keep track of time in a place like this. And Hikaru wasn't able to help me, because dragons don't really care about time the way humans do. Not that it mattered, as I was not in hurry. I was just looking at one of the books when I met the inhabitants of the palace.

And what a meeting it was! One to remember, that's for sure, because the little one crashed down on me. And the books he was carrying followed the suit. The rukh frantically fluttered around us and Hikaru did the only logical thing. He started to laugh, that overgrown lizard.

"Ouuuph!" That was the first thing the little one said to me. It made me chuckle, despite being buried alive underneath all those books. How did he even manage to carry all those at once? Probably magic. That, or the laws of physic didn't apply to this place. It was both equally possible, but the former idea seemed more likely.

While Hikaru was still laughing (that scaly bastard) I somewhat managed to crawl from underneath the books and not to destroy them in the process. Which was good, I bet they were interesting. Anyway, once I freed myself I helped the little one to get up as well and finally looked at him.

To say I was surprised by his appearance is an understatement of the century. He looked so much like me – same dark blue hair (he even had them braided!), same blue eyes, just wider – he could be my brother or… -son-. Indeed, I was not the only one startled by this meeting.

If the other Solomon had a body, he would be frozen on spot. I swear I heard him inhale sharply. Hikaru wasn't laughing anymore, but he still looked amused.

I tried to shake off the surprise of this meeting and smile. I probably wasn't successful, but the little one smiled as well and even offered his hand for a shake.

"Hi! I'm Aladdin!"

A wave of emotions. Swirl of pictures, rapidly flashing in front of my eyes. A group of people, dressed in the same way, each holding a staff. Weirdly looking creatures looking grateful. A smiling woman with pink hair -Sheba- smiling at -me-. "The little one's name will be… Aladdin."

I figured it out pretty quickly. Like, in matter of miliseconds, because our minds were connected. Those were the other Solomon's memories… and the little one standing before me… was his son.

I wasn't sure how to react, how to properly treat this boy, who was basically an orphan. A part of me that was Solomon of this world -the king of Alma Torran- wanted to be his father, because that is what he would have been if not for Al Thamen. I, on the other hand, saw him like a younger brother of sorts. I was torn and unsure what to do, so I improvised.

"Hello, Aladdin. My name is Solomon."

I believe I even managed to smile sincerely. He gave no reaction to my name, but seemed to be interested in my appearance… for about a minute, until he spotted Hikaru.

I think you can imagine well what happened next. For the sake of Hikaru's pride I will just say that from that day on it wasn't always just me pulling his feathers…

I eventually managed to peel Aladdin off Hikaru, much to the little one's disappointment and Hikaru's delight. I asked the boy if he was living here all by himself, and he told me that he was living with a friend. Then he took my hand and guided me through the palace.

* * *

His "friend" was a blue giant. A djinn, apparently. And no lamp included. Damn you, Disney. (At least they've got the colour right).

"Ugo," squealed Aladdin and waved his hands in hope to catch the giant's attention.

"Look, I made another friend! I found him near one of the bookshelves! His name is-"

"Solomon…" Ugo breathed out. Oh, this is another meeting to remember, isn't it? But this time, I was not the confused one.

"Yes! Ugo, you know him?" Aladdin looked at the djinn, the question evident in his eyes.

"I… uh… this is…" Ugo stuttered, unsure what to say. I sympathized with him, because he was kind of seeing his -dead- friend standing in front of him. No pun intended here!

"…Not possible?" I decided to save him. He nodded, grateful.

"Well, it is not. Possible I mean. Because I am not the one you think I am. Although, at the same time, I am. My – our – situation is quite complicated."

He just stared at me, unblinking. It was actually a little scary, mainly because he was so damn big.

" **Way to go, genius,"** mumbled Hikaru, who appeared on my left. I think poor Ugo jumped a little, but can you blame him? First he sees his dead friend, then suddenly a dragon appears. That would throw most people off the balance. Aladdin, on the other hand, seemed to be very happy and proceeded to ruffle Hikaru's feathers.

Inside, I was smiling at his distress. He deserved it for laughing at me earlier.

"Um, I think we've broken him."

" _Ugo's smart. He will figure it out, eventually."_

"If you say so…"

* * *

True to the other Solomon's words, Ugo did figure it out. At least partially. He also befriended Hikaru, much to my surprise.

I managed to sort my thoughts onto how to treat Aladdin. I thing I become some kind of brotherly/fatherly figure for him. Which was fine with me, although it sometimes made my head hurt. I tried to give him all the love the other me wanted, because he deserved that. Both of them did.

For a while, we were one small family and time just flew by. I was getting used to -our- power and the suddenly, it was time for another grand adventure…


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: **I don't own Magi!**

Alright, a few explanations. But first, an apology. I'm sorry! I know it took me ages to update, but my computer… did not die, but it was a close call. I usually keep my things saved not only in my computer, but also in other places, however this chapter was carelessly saved only in one. And I nearly lost it! T_T But, now it's all fun and games again. This chapter is kind of a "interlude". Because I think that the conquering of Amon's dungeon is an important part of Aladdin's growth, I didn't want Solomon there. But he couldn't stay in the Sacred palace either, so what to do? In the end, I borrowed a concept from an amazing fict called "Fanalis crimson love" and teleported Solomon to Reim :D This also foreshadows one important event in the future, so yeah. The fanalis are going to play a big role in this story! Special thanks to all those who reviewed! You guys are awesome! But, enough of this rant. Enjoy the chapter :)

 **Warnings: Spoilers! Unbetaed (grammatical errors are to be expected!) Also, I hope none of the characters is OOC, and if yes, then I am terribly sorry!**

* * *

I left the Sacred palace as suddenly as I appeared here, but this time it wasn't my fault (any part of me). Ugo did it, in fact, but it all happened because of Aladdin – I just got caught in the middle. As usual.

Don't get me wrong – I don't blame Aladdin. But I would really appreciate a little warning next time. Or better yet – if there was no next time at all.

* * *

„Ugh!" was my very mature reaction when I came back to my senses. I was starting to hate teleportation of any kind because I always ended up in some strange place with a terrible headache. Yep, not my cup of tea. I can cope with wounds and broken bones, but when my head hurts, I can't think – and that's as bad as it can get. Hikaru knows. (Unfortunately for him).

The first thing I noticed was the most obvious one – I was alone. And I mean really alone, at least physically. Because you can never be truly alone when there is your other self living in your head.

"Ug… where are we? And where did Hikaru go?"

" _I'm not sure… But I have a theory. About Hikaru, not about our current location."_

"Yeah?"

" _We've left the Sacred palace, that is clear. Therefore, we are somewhere in the 'real' world, where the djinn can not exist."_

"And that has to do something with Hikaru…?"

" _Indeed. He is a spiritual being, is he not? Thus he is like a djinn -"_

"And can't exist here the way we do."

" _Exactly."_

"So, he just disappeared?"

" _No, not really_. _His consciousness_ _stayed with us, but his physical form can not manifest here."_

"So, we can still reach him with -our- mind?"

" _We should be able to. However, he might not respond immediately."_

"That's normal. I would be surprised if he did."

I sat down and tried to concentrate on calling Hikaru. Keyword here is "tried". It's not easy when you have magical hangover (I decided to call it "post-magical hangover", because that's how it felt), so yeah, it took me a while. A long while.

Hikaru's first response was something like **"Ghlwhhlfaa…"** , which immediately put a smile on my face. It's not like a enjoyed seeing him suffer, but… He always teases me, so a little revenge now and then is always satisfying.

Well, now I knew that Hikaru was alive (kind of) I decided to explore my surroundings. God- errr… -Who know where -we- ended up?

* * *

I eventually managed to convince myself that I'm not in ancient Rome. Or more precisely, the other Solomon convinced me that I can't be in ancient Rome, since I am no longer on the Earth. It was not an easy task, though. I can be quite stubborn.

The place I was currently in was indeed reminiscent of the city of Rome during ancient times. The way people dressed, the architecture – they even had a coliseum there! I wondered if there were also gladiators in there…

But I didn't have time to admire the city (even though it was pretty impressive). I had to find Aladdin as soon as possible, because he's probably waist-deep in trouble by now. If he's anything like me… Erm. But first things first. I needed a map. Of the whole world, preferably. Because the other me might be watching over this world, but he didn't have any significant knowledge about its geography.

So, that was the plan. There was only one slight problem… I didn't have any money on me. You can't really blame me, thought. I didn't need any in the Palace and on top of that I had no idea what currency was used here. However, I did have other Solomon's golden bracelets. Even if he forbid me from trading them for a map, saying that _'We need not to trade something so precious for a useless piece of paper'._ I think he was sulking because I criticised his knowledge in geography (or lack of thereof).

* * *

In the end, I didn't get any map. Not even a small one. I guess my luck is indeed rotten, as Hikaru likes to point out. What I managed to do, however, is that I somewhat made the guards notice me. Which probably wasn't hard, because in my current outfit I must really stood out in the crowd. Foreigners are frowned upon everywhere, eh?

Well, I tried my best not to look suspicious or do strange things. Like talking to myself. I tend to forget that we share thoughts with my other self and that there's no need to say things aloud. I probably scared a few kids with that, heh. My bad.

* * *

If Hikaru was awake, he would have laughed very hard. Because I simply can't stay out of trouble, can I? Even if I don't look for them, the trouble seems to look for me. It's not that hard to guess what kind of trouble I ran into. Yes, guards. Very annoyed guard. And it kind of escalated from that point…

"You! With the blue hair! Stop right there!"

Yup, that's a pissed of guard all right.

"Eh? Is something wrong, Mr. Guard?"

" _That sounds like you're trying to mock him…"_

"….. Crap."

Whoop, I hope I didn't say that aloud.

"You! You are wrong!"

Yay, logic. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

"And why is that, Mr. Guard? What did I do to be 'wrong', as you put it?"

The other me tried not to laugh, be he was failing miserably. It was not like I was doing it on purpose, but I do not hold much respect for guards. I have yet to meet a good one.

"You – that's- UGH! You're just barbaric outsider, you're coming with me!"

" _So very reasonable."_

I had to agree with that. But things weren't looking good for me. I couldn't afford to be arrested, I had no time to waste. I was far from helpless, but if I defend myself it might be seem as aggression towards the guard. What to do, what to do?

My salvation came in a form of another soldier. A red one, with an odd aura.

"What's going on there?"

He was smiling, but it wasn't a nice smile. It promised pain.

"Er-! Sir! I was just going to arrest this suspicious guy!"

Now I am suspicious!?

"…. It's the hair, isn't it?"

" _It must be."_

The other me was still in a good mood, so I relaxed my tensed muscles. Time to look as innocent as possible.

The red-haired soldier's smile widened, but his eyes stayed cold.

"Oh? And what did he do?"

"He is a foreigner! A barbarian! And he was doing weird things!"

The red-haired soldier looked at me.

"Well, is it true?"

His eyes twinkled and I eye-smiled at him. Ooh, he knew what this was all about. And he wasn't planning to let the guard get away with a crap like that. I liked him already.

"No, it is not, sir. I merely browsing the shops in there, looking for a map."

"A map?"

He raised an eyebrow. It sounded silly, but it was the truth.

"Yes."

He turned back to the guard, who was now looking rather pale.

"Soldier. Return to your post, I'll deal with this… individual."

The soldier did so with haste. Heh. Serves him right, picking on poor lost souls.

The red-haired soldier smiled at me, and I returned the smile.

"So… now that's over, I should probably apologize for all your trouble. You see, some of the city guard dislike foreigners…"

"Oh, I understand. It's all right, really. Nobody was hurt, no need to worry about it."

He smiled again then offered his hand for a shake. I happily took it.

"Well, then. What are you doing here? You seem rather lost, and judging by your clothes you're from a far away country…?"

"Believe it or not, I was really just looking for a map. And I am afraid that I'm just as lost as I seem to be. My arrival here was an… accident, for a lack of better word. I'm Solomon, by the way. A traveller."

Which technically wasn't a lie. I couldn't just tell him that I'm -kind of- the -lost- king of Alma Torran, could I?

"I'm Muu Alexius, the leader of Fanalis Corps of the Reim Empire's army."

" _A fanalis!? That would explain the red eyes and red hair… but… he's rather… human looking… for a fanalis…"_

My other self was confused, and so was I, because from what I knew about the fanalis (which wasn't much, mind you) … I expected something more… animalish. My confusion must have been visible, because Muu just laughed loudly.

"What's with that look? You've never seen a fanalis before?"

"Uh… no? I don't know much about your kind either. You can say that I lived under a rock for a … long while."

I smiled nervously, but he didn't seem to mind.

"Don't worry, you didn't offend me or anything. Well, then. Would you like to know more?"

"Yees! Er… if it's not a problem? I would hate to keep you from your obligations."

"Nay, it's all right. I don't have much to do today, and your company feels… strangely familiar. Are you sure we haven't met before?"

"I am positive that we haven't. Alright, Muu-san. Lead the way!"

* * *

In the end, I spend two days with the fanalis of the Reim empire. They were funny bunch, and I rather liked them. I also "updated" my knowledge about this world, which was good.

However, I still haven't got a clue where Aladdin could be. The other me insisted on going to a place called 'Balbadd'. He wasn't able to explain why, but I trusted his judgement. We had to start somewhere, and when he said that name, I felt a strange tugging in one particular direction. Also, the rukh wanted me to go there, and if the rukh and the other Solomon wanted to go to this place, there was a high chance that Aladdin would be there.

So I left Reim for Balbadd. I was sure this wasn't my last time seeing fanalis, and that statement later proved to be true. But now it was time to reunite with Aladdin… Hopefully.


	4. Chapter 4

Finally, it's here! Yay, another chapter! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ

A/N **: I don't own Magi!**

That… took longer than I expected. I am really sorry, but there was a pressing matter I couldn't ignore… Exams. Yay for university life. Anyway, we finally get to Balbadd, and things should be getting interesting very soon. I must thank you for all your support, thanks for all the follows, reviews. Hope I don't disappoint!

 **Warnings: Spoilers! Unbeta'd (grammatical errors are to be expected!) Sorry for any character that is OOC, it's not on purpose! (This one goes mainly to Sinbad, as I'm really struggling with him).**

* * *

The journey to Balbadd was peaceful. Or it would have been, if Hikaru hadn't woke up. He was confused at first, but that wasn't the annoying part, no. Because he soon started singing. In my head. Normally, I wouldn't mind. Hikaru has pretty melodic voice (for a dragon). However, he chose some of the most annoying and catchy songs ever made. By the time he started with _What does the fox say_?, I felt like banging my head to a wall just to make it stop. The other Solomon was trying not to listen, but he was failing miserably, if my growing headache was any indicator. In other words, just normal, peaceful journey.

* * *

I knew something was wrong the very moment I first set my foot into the city. And not just because the whole city was drowning in black rukh. (And yes, I knew all about the white and black rukh now, thanks to the lecture the other Solomon gave me. Not that I minded, it was all very interesting and important.)

I've always been able to detect all sorts of energies and see auras, even back home (and by 'home' I mean Earth). Most of this world energy seemed to be contained in the rukh, but auras still clang to each individual person, making everything more colourful in my eyes. The other Solomon found it very interesting, as it shouldn't be possible here. Eh, what can I say? Although I was wondering if I kept any other of my old skills…

Well, back to Balbadd and its terrible state. I was starting to feel bad just by standing in the outskirts of the city and I suspected that it'll be even worse further in. There was one good thing about this miserable situation of mine, however. Hikaru finally shut up.

* * *

Finding Aladdin in this depressed city turned out to be much easier that I thought it would be. I mean, seriously. Even if there wasn't a magical duel going on, Ugo is quite hard to overlook. Even if he was missing a head, which was as shocking as it was hilarious.

Aladdin wasn't alone, which didn't really surprise me, he is rather adorable and friendly. But his companions were interesting, judging by their auras and how the rukh seemed to love them. But there was something strange … I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Strange, indeed…

Aladdin's opponent was also surprising, but not in a good way. Black rukh was swarming all over him, and judging by the amount of it… this was a magi. A corrupted, fallen one. Crap. Also, that hairstyle… Ugh.

" _This is not good,"_ the other me pointed out (not that it was necessary).

" **Yep. I don't want to underestimate the little one over there, but he has no experience with fighting. This is not going to end well. And the big blue guy isn't helping either."**

Even Hikaru sounded concerned, though only a little bit. The worse part was that I had to agree with them, this was not a good situation. Aladdin was strong, he was a magi after all, and he was the son of the strongest mage, for heaven's sake, but he was a child. Naïve and kind-hearted, whereas the other guy… not so much.

I decided to remain hidden, for now. I couldn't just rush there, no matter how much I wanted to. I didn't know all the important factors, not even the situation itself. I didn't know what happened, or if the black magi had any backup. I had the element of surprise, sure, but I didn't want to spoil it. I may be powerful, but am I strong enough to take down multiple enemies? I don't even know the full extent of my abilities and skills! So, I just stayed in the shadows, observing…

* * *

True to – our – expectations, the situation turned out of hand pretty quickly. And I don't mean just the ice flying everywhere, nearly ruining my cover, because it hit the building next to me. Or Aladdin's friend trying to help. No-o. What I mean by "out of hand" is Ugo getting angry. And starting to beat the black magi into a pulp. Well, trying to, anyways. His magic was protecting the black magi, but how long was it going to last? Judging by the sound of breaking bones, not for long.

In other words, time for me to do something. Hikaru was excited, because dragons, but other me was calm, bless him. I took a long breath and walked out of the shadows I was hiding in.

"I believe that's enough, Ugo."

Funny how a few words, said at the right time, can have such an impact. Ugo froze in mid-swing of his hand, startled. Aladdin's eyes widened and his mouth dropped. The other seemed to be surprised as well. Talk about dramatic entrances, eh?

The first one to break the silence that fell after my sudden arrival was of course Aladdin (and for all whovians out there, no pun intended with the silence!). With a gleeful "Solomon-nii!" he attached himself to my waist and the proceeded to hug me to death.

Seriously, he caught me off guard with how much he squeezed me. How could he have this much strength left, especially after summoning Ugo!? This should've wore him out more, considering the rukh used for the summoning was -ours-…

I carefully removed his hand from my waist and patted him on the head, then ruffled his hair. He beamed at me and I smiled as well.

"I'm happy to see you too, little one."

I turned my attention back to Ugo, who was still frozen on spot. Since he stopped when I called him before, I guessed he can hear me just fine (even without a head).

"Relax, my friend. You don't want to hurt that child any further in front of Aladdin, do you? And do not worry. Should he ever try to hurt Aladdin again, I will deal with him."

To be honest, I'm not sure whether it was me, or the other Solomon who said that. Probably both. But, Ugo obliged and stepped away from the black magi, even though he was visibly reluctant to do so. Then he bowed a little, first to me and then to Aladdin. It was meant as an apology, but granted he was headless, it looked rather ridiculous (Hikaru laughed).

I shook my head and smiled which he took as a permission to leave, disappearing with a swirl of rukh.

" **That went…well."**

" _It could've been worse, that's true. Still, it's rare for Ugo to get this angry…"_

"It still too soon to relax. That black magi is hardly alone-"

I didn't even finish that sentence and it was already being answered. The black magi's… companions..? … appeared seemingly out of thin air, though everybody was a little bit preoccupied with the chaotic state of this part of the city to notice their arrival. There were several people riding a flying carpet, looking rather… well, not exactly mad, but definitely displeased.

"Seriously, a flying carpet?"

" **What so strange about it? This world has djinn, dungeons and magic, so why not a flying carpet?"**

"I know but… still. That's so mainstream!"

" _Eh… please, let us focus on the present, okay?"_

So I did.

Thankfully, the others seemed to be prepared for this kind of situation. The purple-haired guy managed to settle everything down as peacefully as he could, which was a win for me, because nobody died. I just stood aside and let him do the work, because politics are crappy and a hate them.

(And as it turned out, this was a princess of a reeeeally big empire we were dealing with. Uh.)

* * *

When things settled down, Aladdin finally got the chance to introduce me to his companions. He started with the two teenagers he seemed to be rather close with.

"So, he made friends? That's good…" The other me whispered this softly, but also very fondly and I couldn't help myself but to smile.

"Solomon-nii! This is Alibaba," he pointed to the blonde guy with a knife… that had a djinn in it? Aladdin, what the hell have you been doing when I wasn't with you!?

"And this is Morgiana! She's really strong!" Red hair, red eyes… a fanalis. Wow.

Then he turned to the group of adults standing next to him, and started with the youngest looking one (he had a young face, despite his grayish hair).

"This is Ja'far. He's nice, but he can be really scary and fast and cool!" A really helpful description, but what would you expect from a child? Although that name… It was rather hard to remain expressionless on the outside. Inside I was like "Is this for real? First Alibaba, now Ja'far?" The other me was chuckling, so I just added my bit:

"That sounded like a description of a ninja. Well, this just proves my theory that ninjas are everywhere." I think Hikaru died from laughter after that one. My expression remained neutral, but then Aladdin continued: "Although he doesn't have a parrot, which is sad. It's not real Ja'far without a bird."

It took all my inner strength to keep my face straight, but I managed. Hikaru, not so much. But he didn't have any visible 'face', so it was all good.

"Ugh, I just had to tell Aladdin the Disney version of some of the fairy tales from Earth, hadn't I?"

" **Yup. You doomed us all."**

In my defence, I must say that it was not intentional. You see, the other Solomon had a list of books he wanted to read to Aladdin. He prepared it long before everything in Alma Torran went to hell. I think my heart nearly broke when he asked me to read these books to Aladdin for him. So, I did.

Eventually I ran out of books and Aladdin still wanted to hear more stories. I had to improvise, and some of Disney's fairy tales appeared to be a good choice at that time. How was I supposed to know that there is actually a poor soul named 'Ja'far' out there? I just hoped that Aladdin didn't ask about the parrot, but knowing Aladdin, he probably did. Oh well. Too late now~

"This is Musrur. He's like Morgiana, but he's even stronger!" Another fanalis. This one looked much more like the ones that I met in Reim, though.

"And this is uncle Sinbad. He's really nice, but a little weird…" Hold on, did he just call that purple-haired guy an uncle!? Only you, Aladdin, only you…

Then he turned to them and gestured to me, saying: "Everyone, this is Solomon-nii!"

And of course he didn't provide any further explanation. Eh, children. Nevertheless, I smiled a bowed slightly, as was the custom back at home (heh, strange how I still refer to Earth as home).

"It's nice to meet you all. I must thank you for taking care of Aladdin for me. I know he can be quite the troublemaker, wouldn't you agree?"

"Solomon-nii! I'm not a troublemaker!" Aladdin protested and I smiled and ruffled his hair. He pouted, but then he hugged me again, probably fearing that I might suddenly disappear.

The purple-haired guy, Sinbad, cleared his throat.

"So… you are his brother…?"

"That is what he calls me, that is what I am to him."

The blonde, Alibaba, frowned.

"Is that yes or no?"

I chuckled.

"Does it matter? Reality is a frickle think and is only true if we make it so. The 'truth' is different for each of us. How we see things and how they really are… How can you know that the world you're seeing is the real one?"

And nope, I wasn't confusing him on purpose. Even though his face suggested it.

"Err… what?"

"Solomon-nii! Stop confusing people!"

"But I am not confusing anyone… or am I?"

Even the other me chuckled at this.

Sinbad cleared his throat again.

"Well… you and Aladdin are obviously close. But there are more pressing matters at hand than your relationship."

He was right, that black magi caused a mess and Ugo's outburst didn't help either.

"You are indeed correct. We should first take care of these in need of help."

He nodded and then smiled.

"Alright then! Let us sort this mess out and after that we can talk…"

So, we did exactly that. There will be time for all the problems like corrupted magic, Balbadd and such later. I didn't fail to notice that Aladdin was beaming the whole time, despite the depressing atmosphere of the city. It put smile on my own face, too.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: **I don't own Magi!**

Well, well. I hoped that this chapter would be done much faster, but I came across a few obstacles. Mainly Sinbad. And the fact that this whole arc is a political and economical game. And I suck at those! :D So yeah. Basically, I ditched as much politics and Sinbad as I could and tried to do something with the rest. Solomon doesn't hold any political power, therefore his role had to be much smaller. But how to write it down without making it look like Solomon's just watching everything and occasionally adding a comment? Let me tell you that it was really hard. There's barely any action in this chapter, but I feel like there isn't much of it in the cannon, either. As I stated earlier, I just find this arc to be all about politics, and the fight with Cassim at the end is sort of here for the sake of action. Anyway, hope you enjoy… And if you see anything illogical, let me know :)

 **Warnings: Spoilers! Unbeta'd! (There may be and very likely are grammar errors).**

* * *

If you think that I played any significant role in the whole Balbadd mess, you're wrong. And it's not because I didn't want to help – I did! However, this whole problem was mainly political and I hate politics. Period.

Therefore, I stayed in the shadows, so to speak. I spend my time with Aladdin, who was happy to tell me what happened after my sudden departure from the Sacred palace.

I was torn between being proud of him and scolding him for his recklessness. But in the end, he gained friends. Very good friends, apparently.

There was the blonde kid, Alibaba, who was, for some strange reason, Aladdin's king candidate. I don't mean to criticize Aladdin's choice – that kid had a lot of potential and really, really pure soul, if his bright golden aura was any indicator. But he's got a long road ahead of him, especially if he wants my blessing. And he could start with working of his confidence. (Seriously, that kid didn't have any faith in himself, it was really sad. Eh, better than the alternative, but still.)

As for the fanalis girl… Well, she was your typical fanalis, speaking through her actions. (During my stay in Reim, I quickly realized that Muu was exception to the rule, with his cheerful behaviour.)

Morgiana was a former slave and met with Aladdin and Alibaba during their adventure inside Amon's dungeon. Alibaba freed her from her abusive master and won her utmost loyalty. And because Aladdin was Alibaba's friend, he was also her friend. Kind of. I guess…?

As for me, they eyed me warily. I was probably still suspicious. Meh. I didn't care… Much.

* * *

The decision to stop summoning Ugo into this world was an obvious one, but not very well received… especially on Aladdin's end.

"But why, Solomon-nii!?"

I sighed and kneeled, so our faces were in one line.

"Aladdin, you have to understand. Majority of humans fear djinn, be it for their power of appearance. And summoning headless djinn in the middle of a town is really bad idea."

"But Ugo I nice! He won't hurt them, or anything! And it's not my fault that he doesn't have a head… I wonder why…?"

"That's because he wasn't supposed to be summoned here. You see, Ugo doesn't have a dungeon, instead he is sort of a gatekeeper to the Sacred palace. That is his duty, and he can't just leave it unfulfilled. So, by summoning him there, you're trying to bend the rules, which results in a non-complete summon. Not to mention that you are using my rukh to do so…"

"Yours, Solomon-nii? How can that be?"

I sighed again, and looked in Aladdin's eyes. There was confusion and sadness, but also understanding, if somewhat reluctant.

"Well, that's a long, complicated story I may or may not tell you one day. As for now… how about you tell me about that 'uncle Sinbad'…?

Aladdin did so rather happily. He told me about meeting Sinbad on his way to Balbadd, and then about the rest of Sinbad's group.

Needless to say, by the end of his story, I was in that 'you-seriously-screwed-up' mode. Mainly because of Sinbad. No matter how unaffected Aladdin seemed, a naked man in the middle of a road is not something a child should witness. And no, a fucking leaf doesn't count as clothing!

" **Geez, calm down. It's just clothes, no need to kill."**

" _Oh, but I disagree. He mentally scarred my son for the rest of his life. Killing him may be over the top, because he is important figure, whether I like it or not, but... what about a little maiming…?"_

The tone the other me used send chills down my own spine, and if he had a body… the temperature in the room would have dropped to the absolute zero.

"Eh, Solomon-nii…?"

"Don't worry," I said with a smile that scared Aladdin to death, "I'll make sure he won't need any leaves next time, because there won't be anything to cover…"

* * *

I found Sinbad together with Ja'far talking about the situation in Balbadd. That was nice and everything, but it wasn't going to save Sinbad. I kicked the door open, and both men looked at me, startled.

"We're going to talk. NOW."

My body language screamed 'you-are-so-dead' and he at least have the decency to look nervous. Good. He had a reason to.

To my great disappointment and his utter luck, Sinbad was saved by Alibaba, who stormed in, looking angry and desperate at the same time. Wow, this kid really wore his heart on his sleeve. I've known him only for a short while, but he didn't seem to possess any neutral face. His expression always directly displayed his emotions and thoughts.  
I'm not trying to criticise that. Quite the opposite – I can appreciate honesty, seeing as it's not a common trait. (And yes, I'm looking at you, 'uncle Sinbad'.)

However, honesty will not help you in a political struggle for power, I knew that much. Poor kid's going to have really hard time while trying to sort out this mess. Judging from the conversation between him and Sinbad, the king of Sindria knew that too. Well, it's not like this was the reason for Alibaba's sudden arrival, oh no. He wanted Sinbad's help, yep, but not to get better in politics. I admit that I was slightly surprised when he asked the purple-haired king to help him with his Djinn magic. Powers. Skills…? Whatever.

Sinbad agreed, although I doubt it was for Alibaba's pretty eyes. (Well, he did have wonderful eyes – golden orbs that seemed to be on fire when he got emotional, which was very often.) He had to have an ulterior motive – in a world like this, no king was without a sin. That was not going to change, no matter how much the other me wished otherwise. Unless mankind changes, the leaders will always be sinners.

Also, there was something weird about Sinbad. I couldn't put my finger on it, but something seemed off. Hikaru thought I was being paranoid. I WAS NOT! (That wasn't proven until later, however.)

Anyway, I decided to overseer their training, because you know. Djinn. And someone needed to make sure they won't destroy the city. Poor Ja'far needed a break.

* * *

And of course Aladdin had this wonderful idea that the best way to help is to summon the djinn. Because Aladdin. And his belief that every problem can be solved through talking. If only that was true! My life would certainly consist of fewer headaches and fewer broken bones.

This was also why I didn't consider Aladdin to be ready to travel on his own. You simply can not talk down every threat, we agreed on that with the other me. It's a sad truth, but a truth nonetheless.

A sighed and looked at Aladdin, disapproval clearly visible on my face.

"Aladdin."

My tone may have been too harsh, because Alibaba actually winced. Aladdin didn't, but he looked as if he had been caught trying to steal the last cookie.

"What did I tell you about summoning djinn in public?"

"Er… Not to do it…?"

"Exactly. And what were you about to do?"

He hung his head low, eyes on the ground.

"I'm sorry, Solomon-nii."

My gaze softened as I knelt down, tilting his head up so our eyes met. I smiled a sad smile and wiped away the tears gathered in the corners of his eyes.

"Aladdin," I said gently, "I know how you feel about the Djinn – I feel the same. But they can not operate outside their dungeon without a vessel containing their power – and this is for a good reason. The system of choosing kings may not be perfect, but what is? The main problem lies elsewhere, however. Do you know where?"

He shook his head, eyes wide and still glistering with tears. I smiled another sad smile.

"In the hearts of men. That is the core of the problem. Men fear that they can not understand and gradually, that fear morphs into hate. And on hate the evil feeds. And hate…"

"Is signalized by the black rukh. Like it is in here…?"

Aladdin looked more curious than scared now, which was a good thing.

"That is correct. Hate and fear, as well as other negative emotion, breed only misfortune, war and death. Indeed, human heart easily falls into depravity and crumbles away."

Aladdin gripped his flute tighter. (I didn't have the heart to take it away from him.)

"Is there nothing we can change? Is everything in vain-?"

"That's not true."  
I gently interrupted, well aware that our discussion was no longer private. Even though Alibaba looked as confused as ever, Sinbad appeared to be deep in thought. That turned on the warning light inside my head, because from what I've heard from Ja'far, thinking Sinbad equals trouble. However, I choose to ignore him for time being, and continued my conversation with Aladdin.

"You can not change human heart. You're not able to change others, only yourself. But that doesn't mean you should stay idle – even a small deed can make the world shift. If the flap of butterfly's wings creates a hurricane, then the actions of men can rearrange the whole world. Just because some people were swayed by evil doesn't mean that others can't be good. That's the true gift mankind possesses – each of us can choose to be either good or evil. And as long as there is good left in people, there is also hope for brighter days."

Aladdin smiled, a bit reluctantly, but he was visibly happier now.

"So, if we keep doing good things, then in the end, everything will turn out to be good?"

"Yup."

I smiled, and he hugged me. I got a little bit out of topic, but… Well, I have no excuse. Only, that little philosophizing now and then can't hurt…? Even though Alibaba's expression said otherwise.

"Eh… what?"

Poor kid seemed to be lost. Whoops.

"Um… Thank you for your… philosophy lesson, Solomon, but unless you have some advice on the matter of djinn's power, I'll have to ask you to leave this area. It's for your own good, as things tend to get… out of hand when dealing with such a power."

Sinbad didn't seem to be concerned about my health so I figured he was just trying to sound polite and not to upset Aladdin by striking his brother down with lighting. And yep, I knew he had Baal. The other me could feel the presence of the djinn, and thus identify them. And because he lived in my head, so could I.

(I admit that I was impressed when I found out that Sinbad had seven djinn. I mean, holy shit, seven!)

" **We won't die from something as simple as lighting!"**

"Speak for yourself, you mountain of scales."

I didn't share Hikaru's confidence in our resistance to lightning.

" _Actually, Hikaru is right. We should be immune to djinn magic."_

"That 'should' does not reassure me."

" **Mhppf!"**

On the outside, I smiled slightly at Sinbad and gestured for Aladdin to leave the area, completely ignoring the cries of: "But Solomon-nii! I want to watch Alibaba!"

Oh, the irony of this situation was undeniable. After all, Sinbad just indirectly told the creator of djinn that he didn't know anything about them. Fu~fu.

* * *

Alibaba returned from his training session in very low spirits. The kid really didn't have any confidence or any sense of self-worth.

Even Hikaru ran out of things to say.

Aladdin tried his best to improve Alibaba's mood, but failed miserably. To be fair, he wasn't able to comprehend what exactly was Alibaba's problem, because hey. He's a kid. And a magi, I know, he's supposed to help people, especially metal vessel users (and we really need a better term, this is unnecessarily mouthful). But – still a kid.

In other words, I decided to step in before something goes ka-boom. Be it Alibaba's brain or the roof.

"Alibaba," I addressed him softly. Poor kid jumped a little, he didn't see me coming. This shows just how much was he absorbed in his self-loathing, because I didn't even try to conceal my presence.

"Solomon-nii!" Aladdin lit up like a Christmas tree. It always puts a smile on my face when he does that.

"Hello, Aladdin. I need to borrow your friend for a while, are you willing to part with him?"

"Eh… Alright, Solomon-nii. Though Alibaba's really sad now. But you will cheer him up, right!?"

"I will certainly try."

"Okay! I'm going to see Morgiana! By for now, Alibaba!"

And he was gone. Such a lively child. I sat down in front of Alibaba, who was staring at me with empty eyes.

"Is there something you needed, Solomon?"

"Just to talk a little."

"I'm not the best person to talk to, honestly."

"I quite disagree. I believe you're just selling yourself short."

"I'm not anyone great-"

"Did you know that djinn don't have to choose a king?"

"I- what?"

He was confused now, but at least he was looking at me. Good. That's a start.

"They don't have to. If they deem nobody to be worthy of their power, they could just close the dungeon without selecting a king vessel. Yet… Amon chose you."

He was staring at me now, unsure. His hand clutched the handle of the knife I knew contained Amon. I smiled a little.

"Think about it. Amon is the djinn of purity and austerity and he saw you worthy of his power."

He was still staring, with eyes wide open. I stood up.

"I believe you are unique person, Alibaba. After all, Aladdin chose you as his kind candidate, that's means you are very special. Have little faith in yourself, okay? Or better yet, if you can't do that, trust all those people who believe in you."

With those words, I left the now dumbstruck Alibaba in his room. Not sure that I've managed to cheer him up, though. Oh well. I tried.

* * *

It came as no surprise that in the end the whole Balbad mess turned into a revolt. People were hungry, scared and desperate, with nothing to lose and everything to gain. Really, that pitiful excuse of a king should have seen it coming.

Nah, who am I kidding? He was too dumb to see it. No wonder that Alibaba's father choose him as his successor, despite Alibaba's origin. He didn't really have a choice. And Alibaba, as I'd already said, had so much potential! You just didn't notice that on first glance, unless you were Aladdin.

That being said, Alibaba was just as naïve as Aladdin. Did he honestly though he could solve this with talking alone? There was an angry crowd of people, thirsting for blood. At this point, talking was useless.

" **You sound really pessimistic. It's unusual."**

"Must be that black rukh."

" _You can't blame your bad mood on the rukh. And you can't fool me, I live in your head."_

"Gee, thanks."

I didn't get to witness the hassle between Alibaba and his half-brothers, but it was quite something, if Sinbad is to be believed. And in this one particular case, I believed him. Alibaba certainly has his way with words, he does. Even though he says otherwise.

Before you ask why I wasn't there, in the palace, let me just say one word. Politics. Ugh.

But yeh, that's the reason. I hold no political power, therefore I couldn't have helped Alibaba in any way. Sinbad was enough. Or rather, Sinbad was too much, in my humble opinion.

I, in the meantime, prevented Aladdin from running after Alibaba and causing even bigger chaos. I was prevented from doing something stupid by Hikaru and the other me, so everything looked fine. For a while. Until all hell broke loose.

I knew I didn't like that Cassim kid, despite seeing him just briefly.

But being turn into some twisted imitation of djinn? That made me sick. And not only me.

" _This is… just like in Alma Torran…"_

" **Wow… that thing is ugly."**

"Not. Helping!"

I let Alibaba and Sinbad tackle it a little before shoving Aladdin into Ja'far's arms and forbidding him to come after me. Then I jumped into the battle.

I wasn't sure how effective my techniques will be since this wasn't ideal opponent for hand-to-hand combat. However, I didn't want to reveal my magic yet, in case the enemy was watching. (And as you know from movies and video games, the enemy is always watching).

That being said, letting Aladdin's best friend get eaten by the ugliest thing I've ever seen wasn't an opinion either. So, I threw the fabled wisdom of my namesake out of the window and recklessly rushed into the fight.

Bad news - this particular djinn possessed gravity magic. The good news? So did the other Solomon! Only on much bigger scale… and it's much easier to dodge when you know what kind of attack to expect.

"Wait!" Sinbad shouted after me just as I ran past him, "he repels all sorts of attack! He can't be touched! And you-"

I didn't bother with listening. I was pretty sure I could take him down. And I did.

I won't go into details as it wasn't much of a fight. It was more of a game of tag, so to speak. He tried to hit me, I landed a hit. He tried again, I punched him again….you get it.

Things got a little more interesting when Judal made a comeback (That was the black magi's name, or so I was told).

You see, my nerves were already in a pretty bad condition and that cocky monologue of his didn't help either.

"Listen here, kid!"

He looked at me strangely. Sinbad and Alibaba looked at me strangely. Aladdin –

Okay, Aladdin was just worried. As was Ja'far (and yes, I saw right through that poker-face. You can't hide your aura, sorry!).

"What? Who the hell are you!? You look like that chibi."

You didn't just call _– my son –_ chibi, did you?

"Chibi… you said…?"

I'm surprised that Amon's flames didn't turn into ice, because that tone – we – used could froze hell over.

"Eh-?"

"What are you then, child!? A cocky little infant who believes that the world is his playground? Well then… I shall prove you wrong."

* * *

You know how they say that "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned?" Well, that's nothing compared to pissed of king of Alma Torran. I had to restrain him from doing something really, really stupid. (Like telling Al Thamen we are here by killing their magi).

Luckily, this is my body, so I've got an upper hand. Still… I wasn't expecting that reaction at all. I guess all that stress and negativity finally took its toll.

No worries, the black magi kid still lived.

Cleansing the black rukh afterwards was easier than I expected. It shouldn't be that surprising – the city now had a new hope and dared to wish for better days.

Laying the dead to rest, however, was more difficult. Especially for Alibaba.

"He's not gone forever, you know?"

"Eh?" He looked at me, eyes full of tears.

"As long as you remember him… as long as you don't hate him… He will be right there," I pointed at his heart, "forever."

"Yeah…" he wiped his tears, "thanks. I needed to hear that."

I smiled at him, faintly.

"He's one with the rukh now… But he'll be watching over you, I suspect."

He nodded with a smile of his own. I went back to Aladdin, who was sad, but happy at the same time. I patted his head – no words were needed. Our bond was just like this.

Sinbad then showed me the dolls that Al Thamen used. It was some kind of replacement magic, I figured. But this was not the time to ask unnecessary questions, it was time to repair this city. Again. Only this time there were no obstacles…

Of course, then Sinbad had to go and kidnap Alibaba. Well, seems our next destination is Sindria… I'm not complaining. As long as there is no politics involved.

* * *

 **A/N:** Ho, ho, so much author notes! But I feel like I should explain a few things. First, the comment about the eyes. Not sure if English knows this idiom, but Czech does. It means that you won't do something for free (or without any kind of gain). I decided to keep using these idioms directly, without replacing them with English ones, because like to think that it's making Solomon feel a little alien within the world of 'Magi'. And he kind of is an alien to that world.

The part about djinn not necessarily choosing any king actually comes from another story I read. I believe it was in one of Vathara's? I'm not sure, but I'll look it up. I just liked that idea very much and felt like it could cheer Alibaba up.

As for Solomon getting angry at the end of the chapter… Honestly, can you blame him? He travels across half of the world, only to find his son/brother in a city full of black rukh fighting a cocky magi. Then he hears of all the dangers Aladdin's been through, including his meeting with Sinbad. Just being in Balbadd really wears him down, and then that cocky kid-magi returns with a twisted version of djinn. Is it any surprise that he snapped? And I've always felt that the way Judal says "chibi" is rather insulting. In that you-are-a-weakling-and-should-go-and-hide-behind-your-mom sort of way. But that may be just me. Anyways, feel free to review! I always read all your reviews, positive or criticising.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: **I own neither 'Magi' nor the song used in this chapter.**

Hello and sorry for the delay. This was supposed to be a relaxing chapter in Sindria, where nothing story significant happened and everything was just nice and shiny… But I had a rough month. I really wasn't well, physically and mentally, and this chapter just…uh… I just couldn't bring myself to finish it. I still don't think it's all that good, but… I kept you waiting for long enough.  
Just to clarify, because **Yellowie17** pointed this out: No, Aladdin doesn't have Solomon's wisdom. There is no need for that, because Solomon is here. If he ever needs it, he may get it, but not anytime soon.

 **Warnings: Spoilers! Unbeta'd! (There may be and very likely are grammar errors!)**

* * *

Even though I prefer mountains to tropical islands, I have to admit that Sindria is indeed a charming place. Peaceful and beautiful, surrounded by clear water it is that kind of place that would be labelled as a 'paradise' back on Earth.

It was also protected by a magical barrier, much to my great displeasure. Don't get me wrong. I'm glad that Sinbad is aware of all the possible dangers and tries to protect his little kingdom as much as he can, and asking a mage to erect a barrier around the isle is a logical step. Taking Sindria's location into consideration, hiring a water mage is even more obvious.

However, last time I encountered a magical water creature it involved lots of running and screaming on my part. Please, don't ask any details. Hikaru is still laughing his ass off whenever I remember that horrible experience.

Yamraiha seemed nice enough so far, but looks can be deceiving.

Still, she made one hell of an impression. (Not so much on me, though I wondered how does she keep that shell-bra in place. Super-glue? Gravity-defying magic? … What? This is a serious question!) So did Sharrkan. I was much more interested in his skills with sword than Yamraiha's magic. (Because honestly, when you have someone who happens to be on a whole different level compared to the rest of magicians, it's quite hard to impress you in the matter of magic.)

But Sharrkan? That was a different story. Oh, how I wanted to spar… And I wasn't the only one. You see, the other Solomon happens to be a proficient swordsman (and according to Ugo preferred to take his enemies down with sword rather than with magic). I'm a martial artist, so a spar with Sharrkan could be either very interesting or very disastrous.

It'll be fun, nonetheless.

The rest of Sinbad's generals was a colourful bunch as well. I've already met Musrur and Ja'far and made an opinion about their personalities. That being said, I was looking forward seeing more of their skills. It's better to know what you're up against.  
Yeh, yeah. Hikaru still thinks I'm paranoid, but even though Sindria was right now our (?) ally doesn't mean it'll stay that way forever. And I prefer to stay on my guard, just in case.

Hinahoho reminded me of someone I hold close to my heart – my martial-arts teacher. He was strict yet very kind man and had the same smile Hinahoho has. Hm. I wonder how he's doing…?

Spartos didn't really leave any impression on me. He was just here and that was it. Eh.

Pisti was cute but in that deadly way. Like a cute little kitten that suddenly turns into a pissed of nekomata and tries to eat your face (I'm so not talking from experience here, nooo, not at all…)

When I saw Dragon for the first time, I was like:

'Is it just me or does that guy look like a dragon?'

" _He does, indeed. Why would you think there is something wrong with your sight?"_

'Hm, I've a dragon in my head, so maybe it's affecting me?'

" _By making you see lizards everywhere…? Unlikely."_

'You never know.'

" **Geh."**

'What, are you maad? Why? I haven't done anything bad yet!'

" **Yet."**

'Hmmm. I know! I could try to somewhat mentally poke you! That'll cheer you up!'

" **Don't you dare!"**

" _Please, stop irritating the dragon that lives in your head. It could endanger your life I worked so hard to save."_

'Kind of save.'

" _Unimportant details."_

" **Why are we having this conversation?"**

'Because this green guy has a scally face!'

" **What kind of reason is that!?"**

" _Just take it easy and relax. I think he's just trying to adapt. After all, from dark and gloomy city to a tropical island? That's quite a change of climate."_

" **Hm, I guess"**

'I know why he looks like this! It's Hikaru's distant cousin!'

" **What did you-!?"**

'Tee~heee."

I was, of course, calm and composed on the outside.

* * *

Maharagan.

It was one of those huge pagan-like festivals that are no longer held on Earth. I didn't really consider joining the festivities at first as I've never been one to enjoy drinking or loud music, but I do like dancing. And everybody looked so happy… Compared to Balbadd, this was a nice change. Also, Aladdin happened.

"Solomon-nii! You have to go with us!"

He was pulling my hair, that little devil!

"It'll be unfair towards uncle Sinbad if you don't go! And… it'll make me sad…"

Now that's black mailing! Alddin… Oh, don't cry, don't cry! You know that I can't stand it when you cry… Damn it. I can't say no to Aladdin… neither of us can…

"Alright. I'll go. Just don't expect me to… socialize much."

„That's all right, Solomon-nii!"  
He flashed me a smile brighter than the sun outside. Ah. The things I do for that smile…

* * *

The festival itself turned out to be very interesting experience. It was relatively calm and quiet in spite of my expectations. I guess the lack of technology such as speakers made it so.

I'm not actually sure how I ended up spending most of the evening with Sinbad (much to the ladies disappointment)… Wait, that came out wrong. We were just talking, damn it! Just talking! Nothing else! Push those disturbing pictures out of your brain!

Good? Good! Let us continue then. Where was I? Ah, Sinbad.

"So, how are you enjoying your stay here in Sindria so far, Solomon?"

We are making small talk, aren't we? Fine then. Uh.

"It's been… pleasant so far. However, I haven't really seen much of the island yet…"

"Ah, of course. You have been spending time with Aladdin, I believe?"

"Indeed. He's a clever little boy, but I'm afraid he's not yet ready to face the world all alone. As for now, I'm making sure he won't be going around randomly summoning djinn."

The king of Sindria actually chuckled. That's good, I guess…?

"Ah yes, that. He caught me off guard when he did that in Balbadd for the first time. I wasn't aware that such a thing is possible outside a dungeon…"

"I believe even normal magician could accomplish that, but the amount of energy required for such act is enormous. Therefore, it's only possible for magi. And even among them, Aladdin is sort of a… special case."

"I see…" he nodded his head, then looked at me, "What about you, then? Are you a magi too?"

"Me? I'm nobody important."

" **Bwhahahahaha. Yeh, that was a good one."**

"I find that hard to believe."

I didn't expect him to buy it anyways. Eh, time to start taking thing seriously… if only a little bit.

"Is that so…" I smiled a little, "There is always more than meets the eye, isn't there, Conqueror of seven seas?"

"That is true."

He was looking at me cautiously. But his eyes also held a great interest.

"Hah! I will tell you this: My identity is none of your concern."

One of his purple eyebrows rose.

"I'm afraid I have to disagree. You are a potential threat, even if you haven't shown any hostility towards my kingdom yet…"

"Not everything is always about you and your kingdom, Sinbad."

His eyebrow rose even higher.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing, perhaps? Or maybe a lot? Not that it matters. In regards of who I am… I'm not lying. I hold no significant role in the world as of now."

"Am I supposed to believe that our meeting in Balbadd was a mere chance?"

"It may have been just that."

"Or it may have been a destiny."

My eyes hardened and the look I gave Sinbad was cold and dark.

"Destiny, you say… Gah! I've heard this excuse way too often to even consider believing it."

He stepped back, bewildered. That sudden change in the atmosphere took him by surprise.

"Excuse…?"

"Indeed. When your life is not going the way you imagined, what is easier than blame all your misfortune on this 'destiny'? What better excuse for all the horrible things you've done than saying 'It was destined to happen'? Destiny, fate… that is just a justification, nothing more! Don't you go all 'Our meeting was fated to happen!" on me, King of Sindria!"

With that, I took my leave, leaving a dumbstruck Sinbad behind me. The ladies tailing him were delighted to see that he was finally alone, though.

" _Are you all right? He really struck a nerve."_

'Yeah, I am. Just give me a moment to calm down.'

" **He really hates people using the 'it was fate' excuse. Even though the leaf-guy didn't mean it in that context. Probably."**

" _Leaf-guy… Such a fitting name."_

'Thinking about a punishment for traumatising Aladding, are we?'

" _Oh, I don't know. Maybe~"_

" **Damn, that was some evil smile right there."**

'The other me doesn't have face, you couldn't have seen his smile…'

" **I totally heard it in his tone…"**

'Riiight…'

With that, I joined Aladdin once again. I took pity with Alibaba and decided to save him from dying from embarrassment. What embarrassment, you ask? Why, dancing with Morgiana of course!  
It was kind of ironic, really. With his fighting style you would think Alibaba was an excellent dancer. Well, maybe he was. But he was way too shy or nervous to show his skills.

Morgiana looked gorgeous and the other me was lost in memories of certain pink-haired magician from Alma Torran… I smiled and looked her in the eye.

"May I have this dance, my lady?" I bowed and extended my hand for her to take.

She nodded, blushing a little, and took my hand.

Needless to say, by the end of our dance, every pair of eyes was on us. Not that we cared. Morgiana's movement were smooth and fluid and I enjoyed our dance… or rather, dances. Because of the atmosphere, I allowed myself to relax for a while and just don't think about anything…

Who know when I'll have another chance like this?

"Solomon-nii!"

Ah, this was Aladdin again… I wonder what-

"Sing us a song, Solomon-nii! Please!"

That answers my unspoken question. Uh, Aladdin…

"But Aladdin, I don't think that-"

"Pleeeeeeeeeaaaaaaeeeeeeee…"

Ugh, no! Not the puppy-dog eyes, not that!

"Aladdin…"

"Pretty, pretty pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…!"

Uh! Why am I even doing this!?

"Finee… I'll sing you a song. But just one!"

"Yay~!"

He's way too gleeful about this. But, true to my words, I cleared my throat and started singing.

" _A thousand years, a thousand more_

 _A thousand times_

 _A million doors to eternity…"_

It wasn't a particularly happy song. It probably didn't go along with the mood in the festival at all. But that wasn't why I choose this song.

" _I may have lived a thousand lives, a thousand times_

 _An endless turning stairway climbs  
To a tower of souls…"_

Everything was quiet. The whole world stopped, held its breath and listened to this song.

" _I could shed another million tears, a million breaths,  
A million names _

_But only one truth to face…"_

Even Sinbad stopped doing whatever he was doing with the girls and looked at me, baffled. Hadn't thought I could sing, eh.

„ _A million roads, a million fears  
A million suns, ten million years of uncertainty…"_

„ _I could speak a million lies, a million songs,  
A million rights, a million wrongs in this balance of time…"_

The other Solomon and Hikaru were also listening, albeit I have no idea how did the song sound to them. But the king of Alma Torran was the reason I chose this song.

" _But if there was a single truth, a single light  
A single thought, a singular touch of grace…"_

" _Then following this single point, this single flame,  
This single haunted memory of your face…"_

" _I still… love you…"_

That's right. This was my way of paying respect to Solomon, the King of Alma Torran and his wife, Sheba. Aladdin's parents.

" _A thousand times the mysteries unfold themselves  
Like galaxies in my head…"_

This was my way of saying that I esteemed their sacrifices.

" _I may be numberless, I may be innocent  
I may know many things, I may be ignorant…"_

And not only theirs. I sang this song for everyone from Alma Torran. I sang this song for djinn dwelling in dungeons. For Ugo.

" _Or I could ride with kings and conquer many lands  
Or win this world at cards and let it slip my hands…"_

For Aladdin.

" _I could be cannon food, destroyed a thousand times  
Reborn as fortune's child to judge another's crimes…"_

 _"Or wear this pilgrim's cloak, or be a common thief  
I've kept this single faith, I have but one belief…"_

This was my way of saying ‚Thank you for letting me come here. From now on, you can count on me.'

" _I still… love you…"_

 _"I still… want you…"_

 _"A thousand times the mysteries unfold themselves  
Like galaxies in my head…"_

For a moment, even the time stood still…

" _On and on the mysteries unwind themselves  
Eternities still unsaid…"  
_

" _'Til you love me…"_

And then it sprung forward with all the force of an angry dragon.

 **A/N:** The song used here is 'Thousand years' by Sting. **All rights belong to their respectful owners.**


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: **I don't own Magi!**

First of all, I apologize for taking this long to publish a new chapter. It certainly wasn't my intention. I actually had a portion of this chapter written shortly after publishing the previous one, but then a lot of things happened. Mainly there just were tons of school work – the tiring sort. That involved lots of research and writing and I just didn't have energy to continue this. Also, I've rewritten this chapter a few times – but I'm still not completely satisfied with it. I think it's clearly visible in some parts, but I don't want to delay it any longer. So, I hope you still enjoy?  
(On a different note – this is now officially a fix-it fict. If it wasn't obvious enough. Because what the hell happened in the manga?)  
 **Warnings: Unbeta's (There may be and very likely are grammar errors!)  
** And lastly, I edited last chapter, just the conversation between Sinbad and Solomon. It is now a little better, I hope.  
'Well, that was fun.' – Solomon talking in his head  
 _"I guess it was."_ – Magi universe Solomon

" **If you say so."** \- Hikaru

* * *

That figurative "dragon" who disrupted our peaceful (?) visit of Sindria was the same princes of Kou empire we'd met earlier in Balbadd. And her brother (I guess?) – but I'll get to that troublesome prince later, because I think that it's better to start with the funny stuff.

Okay, I'll be frank – it was hilarious. She just stormed in and accused Sinbad of… well, technically of rape even if she didn't phrase it like that. I know, this is serious and horrible, but the reaction of Sinbad's generals killed all the seriousness. Totally. Because…you'd expect them to defend their king, right?  
That didn't happen. At all.

Nope.

(I almost pitied Sinbad. Almost. Hikaru was openly laughing and I'm positive I've heard the other Solomon snicker, even though he denies it.)

Everything was solved by Yamraiha, who performed some kind of memory spell, I think, that just showed everyone what really happened. And, behold, Sinbad was innocent (this time).  
Not that the "happy ending" to that escapade mattered, because the Kou prince… Egh, the prince… We'll get to him later. Unfortunately.

(I'd prefer not to get to him at all. Just… ugh, toss him into the ocean or something… What? No Hikaru, I'm sure that doesn't count as murder. Yes, I'm 100% positive.)

Since Aladdin and Alibaba were both training with their teachers I had some time for myself. Technically speaking, anyways, because with the other Solomon and Hikaru, it was never just me. And what did I do with all that time, you ask? Why, train, of course!

Because my current abilities and skills were… terrible at best. Yup, I sucked. That was the cruel truth, no matter how much admitting that wounded my manly pride.  
(You may point out that I dealt with the cocky magi and demonic djinn in Balbadd just fine and you'd be right. I had no problems fighting inexperienced kid and berserk djinn that didn't think. You can't actually believe that's any way of measuring my fighting prowess. I'm not Berseker from Fate/Stay night, I don't have multiple lives! It'll be useful, though.)

It wasn't like I was out of shape. No, my problem laid elsewhere.  
As I've probably already mentioned, I'm a martial artist. Or at least, I was back on Earth. Yeah, I knew "magic", but only a few simple things involving mainly just enhancing my own abilities. I could also tap a little into Hikaru's power which was something I didn't do very often, because of the wild and unpredictable nature of said power. Not that it's important – I won't be able to do something like that in here, anyways. And Hikaru isn't the core of my problem either.

Nope, my non-existing skills and horrible self-control were result of this world's Solomon getting thrown into the mix.

He was a proficient swordsman and powerful mage. The magic part wouldn't be too problematic – weird, probably, and confusing, yes, but I could cope with that. The other Solomon skills with sword – no so much.  
Because what you had when you mixed martial arts together with swordsmanship? A friggin' chaos, that's what. When I wanted to do a certain move, my body obliged – but at the same time another part of my mind tried to convince me that the move should be done in a different way, which usually resulted in me falling flat on my face.

So yeah, I trained my ass off. I was very well aware that I can't rely solely on my luck (Because honestly, luck? What luck? My luck was like E rank or something. Yes, that bad.) and the sooner I do something about the mess that were my current skills, the better.

There was also my ability to see auras. We still weren't sure how it was possible for me to see them and the only theory we had was highly hypothetic. The other Solomon was always able to see more than others, even in Alma Torran, which was one of the reasons why he was an outstanding mage. So this ability of mine may be somehow connected to this, but we had no proof. Not that it mattered – I decided to make some use of this, since I couldn't just turn it off.

Just to clarify – the ability to see auras doesn't involve reading minds. It was more along the lines of feeling – being able to see the mood and dominant feeling, thus concluding the intentions of the person whose aura I was seeing. For example, Sinbad's aura was kind of like the ocean, wild and untamed, but alluring at the same time. There was something in him that just made you unconsciously want to be close to him. He cared for his subordinates and that care was also shown in his aura. It also held a hint of curiosity directed towards me and interest aimed at Aladdin.

Well, I hoped that it was just a genuine curiosity and not **that** kind of interest. That would suggest Sinbad is into young boys… Ugh, that image is way too disturbing… I need a brain-bleach. Now.

(No, Hikaru, you're not helping!)

* * *

That calm before the storm didn't last long, though the storm came slowly. And sneakily. You know, it's the kind of situation where you _know_ something is wrong, but couldn't quite figure out _what_ , so you dismiss it and then suddenly it's too late.

Yeah, it was like that, only I didn't dismiss that uneasy feeling (because I am, according to Hikaru, paranoid). It probably made Aladding pretty worried about my mental state as I was constantly on edge. My ability to see auras wasn't really helping me either – I was seeing dark, purplish streaks creeping just on the corner of my vision whenever I was with Sinbad or Alibaba. One blink and they would disappear (and Sinbad would look at me weirdly, Alibaba just worriedly) and I could've just brushed them off as a part of my way too active imagination, but I knew better. Dark colours in one's aura (even if they are just small splotches) always, always mean trouble.  
 **Always.**

So, I set on to closely watch Alibaba, which probably made him feel a (lot more than) little uncomfortable. And also probably saved his life in the long run – I'm going to get to that soon. But first, uuughh, the Kou prince…

Don't get me wrong – it's not like I hate the kid. I have nothing against him, personally, and Aladdin seemed to befriend him easily enough (then again, this is Aladdin, he would probably befriend even an evil dragon trying to destroy the world), but his behaviour really sets me off. His name's Ren Hakuryuu, if I'm not mistaken (though I could be, I wasn't paying much attention when he introduced himself, I was busy laughing at Sinbad's misery). And he's this overly pleasant and polite type of person.  
Yes, quiet, nice, well-mannared and pleasant to the point where it starts to be suspicious. So he's either secretly plotting world-domination, or he's the only sane person in the sea of insanity and politics that is Kou empire. Considering my personal experience, the latter seemed unlikely. (Please, don't ask. Just… Don't. OK?)

It wasn't even his fault, really, he was just a wrong person in a wrong place at a very wrong time. Doesn't mean I have to get on well with him. Or talk to him nicely.

Anyways, this is how it all went down.

I don't know every detail, because I arrived at the scene a bit later, but Aladdin, Alibaba and Morgiana were just hanging out. Suddenly, Kogyouku and Hakuryuu came, introduced themselves and just started talking. Alibaba got nervous, but nobody seemed do notice and Hakuryuu continued with his talk. Which would had been okay, if he hadn't started apologizing. This may sound really stupid because what harm can an apology possibly do? Weeeell…

The scene I arrived at was that of a complete shock. Alibaba was on the ground and obviously in pain. The purplish something I'd been seeing in his aura was slowly creeping down his arm, bleeding through his clothes. Morgiana was still as a statue, and the Kou royalties were shocked as well. Aladdin… Aladdin was panicking and trying to help. Anyhow.

"Don't touch him, Aladdin!" I yelled, maybe too harshly, but now was not time to be subtle.

"Solomon-nii!" Aladdin sounded relieved to see me, but the worry didn't vanish from his eyes just yet.

Kogyouku and Hakuryuu looked startled. "Who are you!?"  
Ah, I'd forgotten that we weren't officially introduced yet. Somehow, our paths never really crossed after Balbadd, and I doubt Kogyouku remembered me (after all, she was focused solely on Sinbad, if you know what I mean…).

"Solomon," Morgiana's voice was quiet, but steady. Not one to panic, this girl. Very good.  
"Can you help him?"

"I can't tell you just yet, because I don't know what exactly is wrong with him… However, it's nothing good and it would be better if none of you touched him."

"Solomon-nii…" Oh damn, those were tears in Aladdin's eyes.

"Just help he get him into bed and go tell Sinbad what happened here…"

* * *

" _This is bad."_

'No shit Sherlock!'

" _I- what - ?"_

" **Calm down, both of you! You're giving me a headache…"**

'You can't have a headache, you have no head of your own! And I'm sorry.'

I bit my lip, trying to concentrate.

" _I apologize as well. There is no point in stating the obvious. What I meant to say is that this right there… This is black rukh."_

'WHAT!?'  
 _"That's not the worst part of it. This black rukh… it's not his. Is someone else's."_

'… And you used to know what someone, right? Way back, when you were still on Alma Torran?'

"… _Yes. Yes, I did know him. Very well, in fact. He was once a comrade…"_

" **Oh my…"**

I looked at Alibaba again. The black rukh was still spreading, but the process seemed to slow down. And I noticed small flames dancing all over Alibaba (at least they were in his aura). I smiled. Amon was trying to fight the black rukh invading his king's body and soul. Because I was not so naïve as to think that this was purely physical problem. This … "poison", for lack of a better word, run way deeper.

'So… How do we get this stuff out?'

* * *

Sinbad arrived quickly and Aladdin with his friends followed close by. Alibaba was trying to sit, so I helped him up, supporting his back with my hand.

"What happened?" Demanded the King of Sindria, looking more furious than worried.  
"I'm not exactly sure," I shook my head a little, "but it's not good. I strongly advise against touching him or coming near him for a time being."

Sinbad frowned.

"How do you feel, Alibaba?"

"Um… I'm not sure? I mean, it doesn't hurt anymore… but I think I hear a voice… and it keeps telling me to do… things?"

He sounded uncertain. I frowned as well.

"What kind of things?" asked Sinbad, seeming unfazed by the claim of hearing voices.

"Um… the bad kind? Like… it told me to hate you. And kill you. I'm sorry?"

He looked very confused and apologetic, and I deadpanned inwardly.  
'There is a strange voice telling you to kill us all and you just apologize for the inconvenience? You kid, are something else.'

"That's-" started Sinbad, but he was abruptly interrupted by another voice, distorted and… a little frustrated?

"Even after all this, you won't attack? What a weak-hearted child you are."

"What-" yelped Aladdin as Alibaba cried in pain. A blackish-purplish smoke rose from his arm and formed a shade with glowing eyes that morphed into a man afterwards. A man I knew. Or, to be more precise, the other Solomon did. Ithan.

"Oh well, at least I was able to penetrate the barrier protecting this isle."  
That son of a- Erm. He didn't seem to notice me, probably because I was standing behind him. Alibaba was still sitting on the bed, shocked. Ithan was floating above him, not paying him any attention. Aladdin, Morgiana, Sinbad and the Kou royalties were standing in front of the bed Alibaba was sitting on, glaring harshly at Ithan (at least Sinbad and Morgiana were). Sinbad's hand was clutching the handle of his cutlass, but he had yet to strike. He must have remembered my warning against touching or coming anywhere near Alibaba. Good. God knows what could have happened.

Since I was out of Ithan's field of vision I focused back on Alibaba, on his arm to be more precise. The black rukh was still swirling but it stayed firmly in one place. A smile ghosted my lips - Alibaba's own body was trying to fight against this poison and with Amon's help managed to stop it from spreading further. (Amon wasn't very happy that someone was trying to poison his king, of that there was no doubt).  
And since it was essentially a poison, I treated is as such. First of all – get it out of the patient's body. Amon was trying but he needed just a little more power to push this poisonous dark rukh out. So I gave him a helping hand. After all, I've got tons of power to spare.  
Ithan was still focused on Sinbad - he was just gloating about how Sinbad won't be able to save neither Alibaba nor himself. How Al-Thamen will destroy his little kingdom. And kill everybody he cares about. And so on. I decided that now was the best time to deliver one hell of a surprise for Solomon's former comrade.  
"There is nothing that could save you now, Sinbad. Nor will you be able to help this poor, little prince…"

"Are you sure about that?" I asked and immediately brought attention of all occupants of the room on myself.

"That voice… It can't be…"

Just as Ithan started to turn around, I put my arm back on Alibaba's spine and pushed.  
Then there was blinding white light.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: **I don't own Magi!**

 _I still didn't manage to finish this as fast as I wanted to, huh. The 'Zagan arc' was supposed to be in this chapter, but it was getting way too long so I cut it out. It'll be in the next chapter. For now, enjoy?  
_ **Warnings: Unbeta'd (There may be and very likely are grammar errors). Possible OOC-ness (I still struggle with Sinbad).**  
'Well, that was fun.' – Solomon talking in his head  
 _"I guess it was."_ – Magi universe Solomon  
" **If you say so."** – Hikaru

* * *

The first thing I noticed when I regained consciousness again was a horrible ringing in my ears. And my eyes were burning as if someone put burning embers into my eye sockets. And Hikaru was yelling. Great.  
I clumsily climbed onto my feet a slowly opened my burning eyes. White. I closed them again.

(You know, I'm starting to notice a certain pattern here. With the white light and waking up in unknown places.)

The pain ceased after a while and I was finally able to look around. Not that it helped a lot, because… Well, the best way to describe the place I was in is probably the word white. I'm not even kidding. There was nothing, no walls, no celling, no floor – just white, filling up the whole space. It was surreal. And really painful to look at.

In the middle of this place (?) was a swirl of darkness, harshly contrasting with the pristine whiteness. The source of the poison, no doubt. So I did what any normal, rational human being would do – started walking towards it.

As I was slowly making my way through all this whiteness, I realized a few things. I could no longer hear Hikaru – instead of his voice there was a sort of a hum, softly echoing in the depths of my mind. It was an odd feeling, but not a bad one. The other Solomon was no longer a divergent part of me – now we somehow overlapped, melted, fused into one solid being. It felt … nice. Really nice.  
 _I_ **/We** finally reached _my_ **/our** destination, only to find Alibaba curled into a small ball, trying to hide from the poisonous darkness. There was also fire – Amon was trying to protect his king. _I/_ **We** smiled and stepped forward.

"Let _**me**_ help you with that."

He looked at _me_ / **us** , startled. Amon stopped in his tracks, surprise clearly written in his face. Such expression made him look incredibly funny and _I_ / **We** had to fight back an urge to snicker. That would have been inappropriate.

"S-Solo…mon?" stuttered Alibaba.

Amon, having finally found his voice, croaked: "L…Lord Solomon! How is this possible!?"

The only response _I_ / **We** had for them was another smile, it was not time for answers yet.

The bracelets chimed as _I_ / **We** waved _my_ **/our** hand at dumbstruck Amon.  
"Shush, Amon, there are other things to worry about now, like the state of your King's mind."

"Now, Alibaba," I knelt down, so our faces were in one line, not at all worried about the darkness around us. "You ought to let your regrets go – free yourself from your guilt, lest this darkness swallows you whole."

"I…" He looked at _me_ / **us** with teary eyes, unsure and afraid. _I_ / **We** took his hand into _mine_ / **ours.**

"Tell _**me**_ , child. What is it you regret?"

And he did. Choking and sobbing, he told _me_ / **us** everything. About his mother, his friends, his life. About Cassim. About his father and all the responsibility that was forced onto his shoulders.

He honestly believed that he was not worthy of Amon's flames and that all of the Balbad's mess – even his friend's death – had been his fault.

"Oh, Alibaba. You are not responsible for mistakes of other men." _I_ / **We** gently caressed his cheek, which made him freeze in place and look at _my_ / **our** face again. With a soft smile _I_ / **We** continued.

" _ **I**_ can see where your lack of confidence comes from. Your father may had been a good king and even better merchant, however when it came to raising children… Well, all those roles rarely equal. I shall say it once more then, Alibaba. When it comes to Djinni and their chosen Kings, there is no such thing as a 'last resort'. Amon chose you because of your own skills, am _**I**_ right, Amon?"

Amon, surprised that he was suddenly included into the conversation, nodded and then added a firm 'Yes.'

"But… But! Even with all this power – Cassim… I couldn't… No- I didn't-!" Tears were streaming down his face once again. _I_ / **We** gently wiped them away, bracelets chiming as _I_ / **We** moved _my_ / **our** hands.  
"That, little sunshine, was entirely beyond your power. You cannot save those that don't wish to be saved, no matter how hard you try. All you can do now, is to forgive and let go."

"I'm just… afraid that'll forget him… And I don't want to… be left alone…"

 _I_ / **We** chuckled softly and pointed at his heart.  
"Alibaba, as long as you keep him here, you'll never be truly alone. All the bonds you'd made and the ones you will make, they are the light that pierces the darkness. No man can bear the weight of the world on his shoulders alone – those who dare to try just crumble under the burden. You already have friend, if only in Aladdin and Morgiana, all you need to do now is to let them into your heart."

 _I_ / **We** stood up, slowly, and offered him _my_ / **our** hand.

"Now, let us quell this darkness together…"

He took the hand and _I_ / **We** helped him back on his feet. He wiped his tears away and smiled, honestly and brightly.

 _I_ / **We** smiled as well, and then the darkness was no more.

* * *

When I came back to my senses (again. This is getting old rather quickly) it was to a terrible migraine.

I was lying down in a soft bed and there was something warm pressed to my side. When I managed to crack my eyes open (and that took a while) I discovered that this 'something' was Aladdin, who was curled up and fast asleep. A smiled a little – seeing Aladdin always makes me feel better – and reached to pet his head. Just as I touched the hair the same shade of blue as mine, his yes fluttered open.

"Solomon-nii! You're awake!"

I chucked softly and ruffled his hair. He protested a little but didn't pull off. Ah, children.

"What happened?"

"I should be the one asking that, Solomon-nii! What did you do to Alibaba?"

Well… How should I explain this? I had no idea what I was doing either! I just tried something and hoped of the best!

"I tried to help him, to make him feel better. Did it work?"

I look down for a moment, and I frowned. Did something go wrong?

"I don't know, Solomon-nii. When you touched Alibaba, the mean looking floating guy disappeared, but you two collapsed. Even uncle Sinbad freaked out when that happened! He and Musrur brought you back to your rooms and you were asleep ever since."

Oh. Okay…?

I nodded. "When was this?"

"Yesterday."

I decided to take this as good news and started to pull myself out of the bed. Which took longer that I'm willing to admit. Aladdin was watching me with amusement and worry mixed in his big eyes. But, I eventually accomplished this feat and beckoned to Aladdin to get off the bed too. He did so with a curious look.

"Are we going somewhere, Solomon-nii?"

My legs still felt a little weak and my head was killing me, nevertheless I nodded and smiled.

"Of course, we are going to visit Alibaba."

He smiled his blinding smile, took my hand and started to drag me towards Alibaba's room.

* * *

We found out that Alibaba was still asleep, though he looked much better than before. He was no longer pale and even the black poisonous rukh seemed to have disappeared completely. I was relieved – Alibaba was most likely just sleeping off his exhaustion and doubts. I had also another reason, a bit selfish one I admit, to be glad he was still asleep – I didn't want him to confront me about what happened in his consciousness just yet. I was still wrapping _my_ mind around that. Because frankly, I was quite confused by the whole thing. I mean… I had a pretty solid idea about what happened, but it felt so surreal… I can't event put it into words.  
The other Solomon wasn't much better off. He couldn't explain what exactly happened and _how_ it happened, although we both knew, somewhere deep inside what was this strange phenomenon we experienced. Hikaru was still out cold, otherwise he might have been able to shine some light onto it.  
I left Aladdin with Alibaba (he insisted on staying and I saw no harm in allowing it) and slowly made my way towards Sinbad's study. Ithan indicated a few rather unpleasant things and even though he was mostly trying to unnerve us there was no reason to believe that Al-Thamen wasn't planning to do something drastic. Like attack the island (Ithan mentioned something about 'finally being able to cross the barrier'). I doubted Ithan would bother to come personally – the whole thing with the poison felt more like an attempt to lure some of us out, beyond Sinbad's reach (and then probably corrupt us and use against him, but at this point I'm just speculating). Therefore, Sinbad and I needed to talk, and we needed to talk _now_.

* * *

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Sinbad was indeed in his study, talking with majority of his generals. He looked up startled, when I opened the door, but he quickly found his smile again.

"Ah, Solomon, we were just talking about you!"

He gestured me to sit down (where, I had no idea, there were papers everywhere) and I eventually just sat cross-legged on the floor. I had to look up to see the faces of the occupants of the room, but I didn't care. I wasn't sure I'd be able to stand through all of this meeting. However long it was going to be.  
"Are you feeling better, Solomon?"  
Ja'far was the first one to ask me about my health, even though it was just a formality at this point. I was obviously good enough to be there.

"I am, thank you. You can probably guess why I came here."

Sinbad frowned.  
"Indeed. But before we get to that, can you explain what you did yesterday? To Alibaba? By the way, how is he?"

"Alibaba should be fine, he is just resting now, and Aladdin is with him. As for what I did… I pushed the dark rukh out of his body. Or to be more precise, I helped him and Amon to push it out, they did most of the work themselves. It just took a lot more out of us all that I expected it to do."

The all just blinked slowly, trying to process what I just said. Yamraiha recovered first.

"That's amazing – you must be a skilled mage!"

"Well, you can say that in a way I am. But onto the more pressing matters." It wasn't a lie, per se, the other Solomon was a skilled mage. And he was me, kind of, and… I'm not going there. Nope, I don't need more headaches.

"Ah, yes. The threat of Al-Thamen's attack."

Sinbad's face darkened as he said those words.

"He poisoned Alibaba and was probably trying not only to pass through the barrier but to split us up."

Ja'far nodded and folded his arms: "I agree. If it weren't for Solomon, some of us would probably had to leave the Kingdom and look for a cure."

Sinbad then continued: "And the 61st Dungeon, Zagan, which is rumoured to have cure to all illnesses just appeared – what a coincidence."

What a coincidence indeed. This is your plan then, Ithan? Lure us all to Zagan? He never really liked people and his dungeon is probably hellishly hard. Only the hell is green and full of man-eating flowers.

"So, what are we going to do?"

Sharrkan looked bored, but his eyes burned brightly.

"We-"

"Maybe we should play along." No, I wasn't feeling for interrupting the king. Everybody's eyes were immediately upon me.

"Explain yourself, Solomon."

Sinbad had this piercing stare screaming power and fully revealing his status as a King's vessel. Not that it had much of an effect on me. Oh Sinbad, if only you knew who you are trying to command.

"Well. The man whose rukh was poisoning Alibaba, you know him?" A couple of nods latter, I continued: "It's unlikely he will let things be now that they've become personal. You are thorn in Al-Thamen's side, Sinbad, of that there's no doubt, but they are a tad more interested in Aladdin."

"And why would that be?" Ja'far was watching me not unlike a snake ready to strike. I just smiled and straitened a bit.

"Oh, he has something they want. Or they _believe_ he has it. They are probably willing to make a bigger effort to get him than to destroy you."

Sinbad was still staring at me, his face unreadable: "So you would try to protect my kingdom by putting _your brother_ into greater danger?"

I looked him in the eye.

"Oh, don't you even start, Sinbad! Wouldn't you have send him to Zagan together with Alibaba, had things happened differently?"

He had the decency to look down for a moment, and I continued: "But you don't have to worry about my brother well-being. I'm going with him. There's no way I'm letting him go alone into a dungeon after I heard what had happened in Amon."

Sinbad looked at me, surprised.

"Oh?"

I continued: "What I'm proposing, King of Sindria, is – we let them think we're playing by their rules and then just kick them in the face when they least expect it. Figuratively, of course. Al-Thamen needs to know that they won't get neither Aladdin, nor your kingdom that easily. And maybe, just maybe the puppet master will reveal themselves – or we can at least get a clue about who the person pulling the strings of Al-Thamen is. So, what say you, Sinbad?"

* * *

 **A/N:** _Another author's note, shocking, right? Just a quick comment on the weird thing with the pronouns in the first part of the story. Alibaba sees Solomon as a one person, but Solomon doesn't think about himself in that way. He doesn't see himself as one being, that's why he's struggling with the pronouns – Alibaba's consciousness is telling him he's a one whole person, but his own mind says otherwise._

 _As for the poison/black rukh thing… Well, that's how I'm interpreting it. This is fanfiction, after all. Head-canons and all that jazz._


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: **I don't own Magi!**

 _Sorry for taking so long to update, but this semester was deadly – so much stuff to do! And the exams were no better. Plus I was a tour guide last week and it left me exhausted. Moving onto the story. Zagan was supposed to be finished in one chapter, but Solomon's confrontation with Zagan somehow continued on and on, so I had to leave Ithan for the next chapter. It's probably for the best, since Zagan's the first djinn Solomon meets properly and it'd be a shame to rush it. Also, beware the head-canons._

 _Also, thanks for all your kind words. Reviews are greatly appreciated.  
_

 **Warnings: Unbeta'd (There may be and very likely are grammar errors). Possible OOC-ness.**

'Well, that was fun.' – Solomon talking in his head

 _"I guess it was."_ – Magi universe Solomon

" **If you say so."** – Hikaru

 _ **»This dungeon is my playground.«**_ \- Djinn speaking

* * *

I didn't expect Sinbad to agree with my plan that easily, but he did. Somehow. I barely had any time to realize what was going on and I was already boarded on a ship, sailing towards Zagan's dungeon. The King of Sindria was probably glad that he got rid of me, seeing as he wasn't really happy with my presence in his kingdom. He didn't trust me at all – not that I'm judging, the feeling was mutual.

He didn't have to worry about me doing anything suspicious or downright treacherous, though. I had Aladdin with me, after all, and he wouldn't even let me _say_ anything bad about "uncle Sinbad", much less do. And Alibaba, of course. Let's not forget that he worshipped Sinbad as a hero. Or at least I assume it was worship, he could have a crush on him for all I know. I'm really obvious when it comes to these things. At least according to Hikaru.

Anyways, we were on our way to the dungeon and everything looked great – aside from the grumpy Kou prince whose name I'd already forgotten – until it didn't.

I mean, I knew dungeons can be hostile, but kidnapping people? Really, Zagan?

Well, so much for a diplomatic approach…

* * *

Let me summarise the situation - we ended up inside a dungeon whilst being denied the actual choice of entering, Zagan just dragged us inside. Aladdin seemed surprised and Alibaba a bit shaken, but otherwise they were unharmed. Morgiana had the stoic expression that was probably fanalis' default face. The Kou prince, however, went straight into panic mode. He just hid it well, so nobody really noticed.

Not that I was blaming him, the dungeon looked like it was designed by drunken Salvador Dalí and then randomly painted by a group of impressionists. Yup, it was that weird. And I don't mean just the vibrant jungle all around us. The dungeons, after all, aren't confined by time and space.

"Everybody's still in one piece? All limbs attached and no extras?"  
I asked mainly to snap the kids out of the daze. It worked, Aladdin turned away from the big leaf he was inspecting.

"We're okay, Solomon-nii. But this place…" He paused, unsure.

"Are we really inside a dungeon?" Alibaba asked, voice a little strained.

"I think we are…"

Aladdin looked so small and lost when he said this – it made me want to wrap him in a blanket and protect him forever.

"Indeed we are. Don't be fooled by this dungeon's owner choice of decor. Everything is most likely poisonous or at least extremely dangerous." In spite of all the flowers, Zagan's no happy go lucky hippie. All the local flora will try to eat us the moment we step outside this room. If we manage to find the correct door, that is.

* * *

As it turned out, finding the right door wasn't the biggest problem. Or to be more specific, it was not my biggest problem – I can't really speak for the others because the moment I stepped through the first door we tried, I ended up face to face with Zagan himself. Who didn't look very happy to see me. Ooops?

I hoped the kids were okay and they were (as okay as they could be in a dungeon), all of Zagan's attention was on me and boy, did he look pissed off. Oh well. Can't have it too easy, right?

'Okay, so… Did you do something to him, or is this just his normal face? Not to mention his fashion sense… Or lack thereof.'

I think it's safe to assume that the other Solomon cringed at the mention of Zagan's horrid style.

" _Well, the thing with Zagan is that he hates humans. Period."_

'He was one or your djinni, no? I mean, he has a dungeon now, so he must have at least tolerate **you**.'

" _He did, I dare to say that we were friends, somehow. But you must look at this situation from his perspective – to him you're just a human that came to annoy him, and on top of that you look like… well me. You. Us? Uh, pronouns."_

'I know, right?'

" **Please focus, you airhead. I don't think you'll be able to talk your way out of this…."**

Hikaru grumbled but ended up sounding a bit worried. Aww.

 _ **»**_ _ **Imposter.**_ _ **«**_

Zagan's voice snapped me back to reality. He loomed over me and I admit he cut an imposing figure, even with all the ridiculously coloured flowers all over him.

 _ **»**_ _ **You dare to venture into my domain, pretender?**_ _ **«**_

He sounded more irritated than anything, so I counted that as a win. I mean, he didn't outright murder me for looking like his dead king. Maybe I should change my clothes to not look so much like the King of Djinni? Nah, the blue hair is a dead giveaway, it wouldn't work.

"Excuse me!? 'Venture into your domain?' If I recall correctly, it was you who dragged me there, so don't try to throw this one on me."

I almost heard Hikaru facepalm, if it were physically possible for him, of course. Zagan looked a bit taken back though, he clearly wasn't expecting me to talk back. Too bad for him, I tend to do the unexpected.

 _ **»**_ _ **Do you have a dead wish, mortal? Such discourtesy in the presence of the one holding your life in his hands**_ _!_ _«_ Zagan snarled, eyes burning.

"Naah, You don't hold anyone's life in your hands as firmly as you believe and besides, dying is overrated."

Zagan just stared at me, bewildered and I heard the other Solomon snicker, even though he was trying not to. I can't really help it – I'm extremely nervous and thus I talk. A lot.

 _ **»**_ _ **The nerve of you, pretender! Are you as arrogant as to talk back to your betters?**_ _ **«**_

'So Zagan's one of those? I thought he disliked people because they annoyed him…'

" **It's probably more likely he sees humans as insect. Annoying, yeah, but below him. Lots of my brethren have similar mindset."**

I took a deep breath, stepped closer to Zagan's looming figure and attempted to look him in the eye.

"Okay, Zagan. Let's make one thing crystal clear – I'm not pretending to be anyone."

 _ **»**_ _ **So you just happen to look like Solomon? I find that hard to believe, imposter. You're likely just another trick, a mirage conjured by those who wish this world harm.**_ _ **«**_

Zagan's voice had a hard edge to it. Such a trickery clearly enraged him.

"I had no idea the King of Alma Torran was this sassy, but whatever." _"Oh, I can do sass, trust me."_ I fought back a grin and continued: "I will say this again. I am not pretending to be anyone and I am no mirage or trick. I am who I am, however complicated my situation may be."

 _ **»**_ _ **How can identity be a complicated thing? You either are who you pretend to be, or you are not. And I know you are trying to deceive me for I witnessed Solomon's sacrifice with my own eyes.**_ _ **«**_

If only was it so simple, Zagan!

"I am not trying to deceive you. My name is Solomon. I am, and at the same time I am not the person you think I am."

 _ **»**_ _ **Lies!**_ _ **«**_ Zagan cried out, shaking with presumably anger. _**»**_ _ **You dare, you dare, you dare! You dare to steal the the name and and face of my King, you fiend! Prepare yourself!**_ _ **«**_

'Damn, how do we prove ourselves? Ugo was one thing, but he is crazy smart, and Amon was too surprised to act, but Zagan will turn us into an ugly garden decoration!' I was starting to panic and at the same time I was worried about Aladdin, which was not a good thing to do in this situation.

" **Well, we may finally test the theory about being immune to Djinn magic."**

'That's not helping at all, Hikaru! Wait, what about showing him something? Was your magic specific enough, Solomon?'

" _I would assume so? I never saw anybody manipulate the magoi the way I did, at the very least."_

'It's worth a shot. I would hate to fight Zagan.'

" _Agreed."_

Now, Solomon's expertise is manipulation of gravity, and how do you demonstrate that? I mean, we were in a dungeon, and half of the things in here defy the rules of gravity already. (Newton would throw a fit if he ever saw this.)

Unless… we try something completely different. Solomon did manipulate the magoi differently, because he saw far more than anybody else in Alma Torran. This ability of his allowed him to view the time-space continuum in a unique way, to the point where he could catch glimpses of things long gone and things not yet existing.

Ever since our little trip to Alibaba's mind, the dividing line between 'me' and 'the other Solomon' was much less firm, therefore I was willing to try out more of Solomon's skills without having to worry about a possible backlash and a magic infused hangover. Those were not fun.

This may work, only… How do you show a djinn your way of seeing the world? Or perhaps, since Solomon was directly involved in the creation of this world, I may be able to make the bonds between everything visible for others? No, we are inside a dungeon, that wouldn't work even if I was somehow able to do that. Too bad I don't posses the infinite wisdom of my namesake, that would came in handy.

Scratch this, I'll have to improvise.

I dodged a few vines and flowers – Zagan wasn't waiting for me to finish my mental conversation and actually come with a solid plan.

 _ **»**_ _ **Perish, imposter!**_ _ **«**_

Zagan's screech resulted in more weird flowery creatures appearing out of the tall grass and trees. Even half-formed, they were clinging to my clothes, trying to hold me in place so their master could punish me personally. Time to take the higher ground, and by that I mean just hang in the air. Hopefully not for too long, because my aerial combat skills are non-existent. Which is a bad thing, no matter how amusing Hikaru finds it. I took of the ground, managed to shake most of the creatures off me and stopped somewhere mid-air, where they couldn't reach me.

At this point, I had no idea what I was doing. I just tried something and hoped for the best. As you may have noticed, most of my fights tends to go like that. I mean, I try to strategize but something always pops up which screws all my plans and I have to just make do.

Anyways, I ended up flying up to Zagan's face. Said djinn was trying to catch me and then most likely kill me like the annoying insect he saw me as. So far I managed to avoid his hands and all the vines around me but it was only a question of time before he snatched me out of the air. I had to act quickly and hope my luck wasn't as rotten as it most likely was.

I raised my hand towards Zagan's face but before I had the time to even try anything, a strange sound echoed through my mind, accompanied by a tingling sensation in my arm. The sound mostly resembled chiming of numerous small bells and judging by Zagan's dumbstruck face, I wasn't the only one hearing it.

 _ **»**_ _ **What is this…?**_ _ **«**_

The djinn sounded bewildered and maybe, just maybe reluctantly hopeful. Huh.

"Honestly? I do not know, but I feels… familiar?"

I was almost as surprised as Zagan. Because, what the hell?

" _I think…"_ The other Solomon whispered inside my mind, softly: " _That this familiar feeling… is the metal vessel I entrusted to Zagan."_

'You mean the thing you used to turn him into a djinn?'

" _Yes. And since it was my magic that created this form of his, it is… resonating with our own powers."_

'Oh. Oooh.'

" **Oh indeed."**

'Do you think Zagan feels it as well?'

" _Undoubtedly. He clearly recognizes the magic, look."_

The other Solomon was right. Zagan's eyes were still open wide, but all the hate and fury disappeared from them. There was only surprise and hope left, however frail and reluctant. I flew down, though I was still shaken when I touched the ground. The djinn bowed deeply, then knelt before me.

 _ **»**_ _ **I cannot believe my own eyes… My Lord Solomon… is it truly you…**_ _ **«**_

He sounded so small, so unsure, like I would disappear if he just said my name.

"Your eyes are not deceiving you, Zagan. I am here, somewhat."

Me and the other Solomon decided not to burden Zagan with any unnecessary details about our situation, it would probably just confuse him. (Our first attempt to explain had already failed.) So for all intentions and purposes, both of us were one person. Which, in a way, we were.

 _ **»**_ _ **I shall not ask how you are here… So may I inquire why have you come?**_ _ **«**_

He was still kneeling and I didn't like that one bit.

"Please stand up, Zagan. No more formalities, we are both equals here."

Reluctant, he rose up. I rewarded him with a small smile.

"As for why I am here… If you mean in this world, it's to stop those who seek to destroy it. If you were asking what am I doing in your dungeon, the answer is a bit different, but not completely. For one, I am watching over Aladdin but I am also looking for a certain someone who is probably hiding somewhere inside your dungeon."

 _ **»**_ _ **Oh?**_ _ **«**_ Zagan raised an eyebrow and suddenly all the vibrant jungle around us disappeared. _**»**_ _ **Whoever you are looking for, my lord, is most likely in the treasure room, otherwise I'd know about them.**_ _ **«**_

Massive doors appeared in front of us and it's not hard to guess where they led.

 _ **»**_ _ **But something is preventing me from seeing clearly what's going on inside. But I feel a.. disturbance, from here.**_ _ **«**_

"Disturbance in the force, no doubt," I murmured, carefully so Zagan didn't hear. Out loud I said something different: "Yes, this is most likely it. Thank you for your cooperation, Zagan. I will take it from here."

 _ **»**_ _ **I am grateful for being able to meet you once more, lord Solomon. And glad to be of use in your search. Who is it you are about to confront?**_ _ **«**_

He sounded happy, yet a little sad, probably because he couldn't help me any further, after all, the rules of dungeon had to be followed without any exceptions.

I smiled, but it was a forlorn smile.

"Ithan."


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: **I don't own Magi!**

 _An apology will probably not suffice but let me at least explain why this chapter took so long to finish. Not only is the schoolwork crushing me (but that's nothing new) but I also had a very rough few months. I had a bad quarrel with my good friend and it took a while to sort everything out. This is why this chapter, witch Solomon confronting Ithan just cut too close to home for my own comfort. And I didn't want my own problems and frustration to reflect in my work in such a way, which is I just had to sit back and not write for a while, even though majority of this chapter was finished ages ago. Once again, I am very sorry you had to wait._

 _Also, beware some deep conversations and topics. And headcanons._

 **Warnings: Unbeta'd (There may be and very likely are grammar errors). Possible OOC-ness.**

'Well, that was fun.' – Solomon talking in his head

 _"I guess it was."_ – Magi universe Solomon

" **If you say so."** – Hikaru

 _ **»This dungeon is my playground.«**_ \- Djinn speaking

* * *

I stepped into the treasure room a bit reluctantly. On one hand, I wanted to make sure Aladdin and others were fine. On the other… I was not looking forward to my confrontation with Ithan. I didn't fear him, no, I was confident that when it came down to fighting, I could take him. What I felt when I looked at him was deep, deep sorrow and regret – the other Solomon weeping for his friend inside my soul.

In whatever way was our meeting going to end, someone's heart would no doubt end up broken. (I just hoped it won't be Aladdin's.)

Zagan stayed behind – he couldn't step in until there is a 'conqueror' of his dungeon, but that was fine. He would probably just make things worse.

I quickly scanned my surroundings and discovered that a fierce battle took place here recently. There were scorch marks all around the place and there also was a lot of debris from the surrounding buildings. I inwardly facepalmed – I take my eyes of the kids for one second and of course they immediately get into a fight. It appeared that they won, however… Aladdin was barely standing, the Kou prince was on the ground, Morgiana nowhere in sight and Alibaba was being held by…

"Ithan."

Time seemingly came to a screeching halt the moment I made my presence known. Aladdin's eyes widened almost comically and Alibaba coughed and wheezed, as Ithan let go of his throat.

"You." It was a growl more than anything else, so thick with emotion it was barely edible, yet echoed harshly and clearly in the silence of the chamber. It was way worse than a punch in the gut would have been.

I had to gather myself together, and fast.

"Leave the kids out of this. They have done nothing wrong."

"Nothing?" He spat out, "Nothing? Everyone who's following your foolish endeavours, even unknowingly, is a target. Or at least a useful tool."

He gestured towards the blue-haired girl collapsed at his feet – clearly, she was a tool he no longer had use for. It made me feel sick.

"There's so much hatred in you…" I muttered, not intending for him to hear it, but he did anyway.

"And what do you expect?" he snarled, "You KILLED my brother!"

I almost collapsed on the spot, overwhelmed by the hate directed at me. This feeling was made even worse by the crushing guilt the other Solomon was trying to (and failing miserably) contain. And since there was no longer a solid dividing line between me and the king of Alma Torran, I was having hard time thinking straight. Or even standing.

(I mean I always knew that negative feelings can hurt, but this was a bit too literal for my tastes.)

" **Solomon!"** I guess even Hikaru was worried, judging from the tone of his voice. And the volume. I almost went deaf.

Ithan noticed my struggle and it only fuelled his rage. He was probably already in a pretty bad shape and seeing me (even though it was not _really_ me he was seeing) just pushed him off the proverbial edge.

He stepped towards me, robe blowing in some invisible wind. Talk about dramatic, eh?

"You lead us all to our doom! So many have died and all because of you, because you just had to play God, hadn't you!?"

I could have denied it. I could have said "No, that wasn't me." I could have tried to explain that the person he is blaming for his brother's death is not the one standing in front of him. I could have said a lot of things, but only one without betraying my own heart.

"No, Ithan," I whispered, trying to find solid ground beneath my feet again, "I will not let you do this."

Wait, what? WHAT!?

He hesitated, almost as surprised as I was at my remark.

"You won't let me? I have no power to stop me, to stop us! Al-Thamen will bring our father-"

"No," I cut him off, "You misunderstood. It's not about Al-Thamen at all, it's about me not letting you fall any further into the darkness of your sorrow."

He stopped dead in his track and for a while he just stared at me. I stared right back, unwavering. Then he threw his head backwards and barked a laugh. The hysterical kind.

"You? Won't let me fall?"

I opted to stay quiet.

"Just like you didn't let my brother fall? Just like you didn't let our home? Or your kingdom!?"

Interesting for him to say 'our home', but 'your kingdom'…

"There's blood your hands! A pile of corpses you build your little empire on, but we burnt it down, cleansed it! Just like we will cleanse these lands-"

"Solomon-nii?"

And the whole situation has just gotten from bad to worse, because while I was busy trying not to faint under the pressure of Ithan's emotions, Aladdin's came close enough to hear us talking. And probably heard all the things I would be happier if he never knew. Which means (in case we all survive this) an explanation. That I was not looking forward to. But it's still explainable, so there's that. Silver lining or something.

"What, your father neglected to inform you about the rivers of blood he leaves in his wake?"

Screw you, Ithan. I don't care if you're other Solomon's (ex)friend, at this very moment, I just wanted to send you straight to Hell, consequences be damned.

"Father…?" Aladdin looked so confused, so lost… And maybe a little fearful, but I couldn't blame him. "What is he talking about, Solomon-nii?"

Ithan chuckled darkly at the addressing. "Brother? This man is no brother of yours, brat. He is in fact your-"

He didn't have the chance to finish that sentence because I punched him. In the face. At that very moment all the years of my training, of learning not to resort to violence or throw the first punch just jumped straight out of the proverbial window, together with my patience and compassion.

Aladdin just blinked owlishly, clearly not expecting that. I looked at him and attempted smile, but probably only managed a grimace.

"Aladdin, I promise to explain everything later, but now, I need you to protect your friends. This man is extremely dangerous and the only thing standing between your friends and a painful death may be your Borg." The 'I need you to stay the hell out of my way' was unsaid, but heavily implied.

He stared at me, myriad of emotions flickering in his blue eyes. After what felt like a century, he slowly nodded and with a quiet "Okay," went to protect his friends. That's one thing taken care of. (Even if it breaks my heart to see Aladdin like this).

A groan from somewhere to my left told me that Ithan was collecting himself off the ground. When I looked at him, he was holding his nose, trying to stop the bleeding. Which was apparently broken. Sorry, but not sorry.

"You!" he snarled, or at least tried, it sounded a bit funny with his nose being broken.

"Well, my patience was wearing thin and I have no time for your villainous monologues. It's time to resolve this." I said grimly, as my whole body tensed in preparation of the upcoming fight.

"Bah," Ithan spit blood as he stood straight, "Don't get too cocky. I've seen you waver before, like a drunken fool. This will be over quickly. I'm coming for you, Solomon!"

With that, he lunged.

And I dodged.

It probably looked hilarious. (Also, I don't understand why he went after my first with just his fists and not magic, but he probably wanted to return that punch I threw earlier. Well. Didn't go as planned, huh.)

He spat more blood, collected himself and decided to choose a different strategy, more befitting his magi status. He attacked again, this time with magic. Now, there's something you should know about Ithan. His area of expertise is lightning magic. We were in a dungeon that mostly consist of flowers, and even if the treasure room is almost devoid of them, there's still a lot of buildings. Lighting plus flowers plus buildings. You do the math.

It was bad, mostly talking about collateral damage levels of bad, but still. I risked a quick glance at Aladdin and his friends – it seemed that the Borg was protecting them just okay from the falling rocks and debris, so at least someone was safe.

I knew I couldn't keep dodging forever, but at the same time I was hesitant to strike back. I didn't want to kill him, thought I knew only one of us would walk away from this fight still in one piece. Still, he was other Solomon's friend, an important friend, even and I just… couldn't… Not to mention that I felt bad even at the mere though of taking someone's life. This just.. No. Just No.

So I stayed on the defensive for so long that it made everything worse.

"Hold still!" Yelled Ithan, frustrated, when I avoided yet another of his lighting strikes. He was getting desperate, and his attacks sloppy. But I wasn't much better to wear, to be completely honest. All of Ithan's hostility, hate and rage was crushing me inside and the black rukh accompanying him made it hard for me to focus. I couldn't prolong this much longer, but I was still hesitant. Why does it have to end with bloodshed?

"Why do you keep resisting, why do you keep fighting!?" Ithan's yell was accompanied by another lighting, which I dodged again, but barely. It actually cut a line across my calf. Was I a moment slower, I wouldn't have a leg anymore.

I wanted to shout something like "If I stopped fighting I would be dead!" but I doubted he was that interested in my answer. He was just filtering his frustration and desperation through the screams and yells.

This had no point, we were just tiring each other out. Someone needed to stop this. (I also noticed that both Hikaru and other Solomon were suspiciously quiet. It unnerved me.)

That someone turned to be Ithan, when he yelled: "Why don't you just stop being the puppeteer of fate? Do you think you can just make us all follow the path you designed? That everybody will blindly suffer the destiny you enforced!? Answer me, Solomon!" This, in response, made me froze in place. I've been accused of many things, both me and the other Solomon, but this? Being the one to fabricate the fate of the world? This one hit where it hurts the most and because of that, I finally found my resolve to end Ithan's suffering.

"No, Ithan," I whispered softly, ceasing my movement and looking him in the eye, "I have no power over the so called 'fate'. None of us have." By us, I meant myself, the other Solomon and Hikaru, but Ithan probably took in in the broader sense, as that no human being has any sort of power over fate.

Now, as you may have noticed, I dislike the term 'fate' or even 'destiny', because many people throughout the history (of Earth, but probably Alma Torran too) used it as an excuse or as a justification of their actions (often horrid crimes). That 'It was inevitable, it was fate' just irked me whenever someone said it.

When it comes to the 'fate of the world' though, this is where it gets a bit more complicated. Not only because this is a question of faith, it also depends on what you imagine under those words. Back on Earth, I inclined towards the Buddhist beliefs of causality, that everything is linked and all our actions have consequences, but are not necessarily dictated by some otherworldly deity. In fact, if you know at least a bit about this belief, you are aware that 'Buddhist gods' (let's use this term very loosely, just for the sake of keeping this simple) are part of this system of causality just as much as humans are.

That being said, this world clearly operated in a specific way. What I could deduce from the other Solomon's memories and from what I've seen for myself, there indeed seems to be some kind of 'fate' in play here. I don't want to try to draw to many parallels with my home world (because all that rukh would probably suggest an Islamic or rather pre-Islamic belief and let's not go there, shall we?) but still. The Rukh are supposed to guide people towards the 'fate', which is, if I get this correctly some sort of progress forwards. Towards what, I have no clue. It doesn't help that the god which created Alma Torran, Ill Ilah, apparently lacked any kind of will of his own, at least before David got thrown into the mix (he just had to meddle and turn everything upside down, hadn't he? Wow, the other Solomon's father was an asshole).

The question that remains is – does the 'fate' determine everything? Is every action of every person in this world/universe scripted and pre-dermined? I don't believe so. I think that there are several ways the world may progress and it is what we, the people living here, do that determines which way the world moves and progresses further. Which I assume it the ultimate goal of whatever powers are at work in here – to mover forward, to progress, not regress or stagnate. All the people suffering? These are probably just the inevitable casualties in the greater scheme of things. I mean, not everybody can be perfectly happy and have a good life, and it's not always their fault either. But that doesn't mean you'll just go and scream at the Heavens (or in this case probably the Rukh) that it's unfair and whatnot. You just go on and try. Isn't that the human nature? Not to give up no matter the hardships we may face? To move forward?

Well, this is my personal take on this whole 'fate' and 'destiny' mess, not that anyone can really deny or confirm my theory, so may as well roll with it. Also, how dangerous is it that the 'flow of the Rukh' can be influenced? I mean, this universe is severely lacking in the security measures department.

Anyway, I side-tracked here for a bit, I apologize. You came here for a story, not a philosophical debate concerning the 'fate' of the world. So let's continue with how Ithan should have chosen his words with a little more care.

"Tch, that's the lie you keep telling yourself," grumbled Ithan.

"But it's true," I said slowly, "I cannot steer the wheel of fate into the direction I want, and I never desired to do so. I only wanted to give all people, without any difference, a better chance to live. That's all I ever wanted – people, regardless of their race, having equal possibilities."

"That clearly didn't turn out very well," Ithan spat those words rather sarcastically.

"Well, I may have omitted to take the human factor into the equation," I replied, shrugging. Or more likely, the other Solomon assumed that when there are only humans and no other races, they will treat each other as equals. Oh, King Solomon, how wonderfully naïve of you.

"Whatever you intentions were," said Ithan, lighting crackling between his fingers, "they no longer matter. We shall engulf the world in eternal darkness and defy the fate once for all!"

"Ah, Ithan," I picked up a sharp bit of dark steel (probably a former part of someone's armour) and was slowly twirling it in my hand, "what you seek to do will only just bring chaos and disintegrate the very fabric of this world. So many will die and suffer if you force them to return to the Rukh… I cannot let you do this."

"The only way for you to stop me is to kill me!" Ithan's scream was accompanied by a thunderclap.

"Then so be it," I whispered grimly and clutched the steel in my and so firmly that my palm started bleeding.

Ithan came at me, swift as the lightning he commanded, but I was just a tiny bit faster.

I drove the chunk of steel right into his heart.

There was a surprised gasp and tears (they were mine- **ours** ), but no other sound. Then, there was silence. Deafening silence.

Then, a scream. Mine. **Ours**.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: **I don't own Magi!**

 _So this chapter made me sweat blood. Almost literary. I rewrote it two times. It was not supposed to be… this. Full of feels and all that. I am not good at this kind of thing, I much prefer the fluff and cracky humour. But… It needed to be done._

 _Also, regarding upcoming updates: I am writing my bachelor papers and it is taking a lot of my time and energy. So, you can expect monthly updates, I can't promise I'll manage to update sooner. It shouldn't be later, though._

 **Warnings: Unbeta'd (There may be and very likely are grammar errors). Possible OOC-ness.**  
'Well, that was fun.' – Solomon talking in his head  
 _"I guess it was."_ – Magi universe Solomon  
" **If you say so."** – Hikaru  
 _ **»This dungeon is my playground.«**_ \- Djinn speaking

* * *

I can't recall anything that immediately followed Ithnan's death very clearly, probably because I was in some state of shock and denial. Killing a person (friend a friend he was our FRIEND) for the first time does that to you. Everything is hazy, but I somehow know Zagan ended up with the Kou prince. Why he chose him, I have no idea (though he most likely just didn't want to be anywhere near Amon) but he didn't spoke to me again, for which I am grateful. He just glanced at me from the corner of his eye, saw my obvious distress and at that moment not so stable psyche and just proceeded to choose the 'conqueror'. If he bowed a bit more deeply than necessary, and more in my direction than his chosen king's, nobody commented on it. Nobody probably noticed, aside from Aladdin, that is. Ah, Aladdin… I had to pull myself together fast, if only for his sake…

* * *

Once we 'rescued' the villagers trapped in Zagan, we set out onto the sail home. Well, home. Sindria was no home for me, but Aladdin seemed to regard it almost as such (certainly way more than the Sacred Palace, not that I blame him), so… Yeah.

The kids also seemed to sense my horrible mood, if not quite understand it fully. They knew death but not betrayal on such a scale (though Alibaba seemed to understand the most what I was going through. After all, betrayal of your family, even if you share only a part of your blood with them, often hurts more than a friend's).

So everybody was just tiptoeing around me for the time being and I was grateful for that. It was probably very awkward but I couldn't care less. I needed the time to put back together the pieces of my heart that broke together with Ithnan's body (which disintegrated into black ash…).

Yet still, I was well aware I couldn't postpone my talk with Aladdin forever…

* * *

In the end, it was Aladdin who approached me first, not the other way around. Well, approached... More like he cornered me. He probably couldn't ignore the elephant in the room any longer.

"Is it true?" He cut straight to the point, no dancing around.

"Aladdin..? What exactly-"

"Is it true, what the man said?" I couldn't even finish the sentence, but I didn't need to. We both knew what he was talking about, I was fooling nobody, much less Aladdin.

"Aladdin-" I whispered softly.

"He said that you're my father. Was he lying?" Aladdin looked me straight in the eye and I could see tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. Oh. Oh no.

"I… He.." I couldn't even put together a proper sentence, damn it, that's how bad it was.

Aladdin said nothing to that, clearly waiting for me to elaborate.

"It's complicated." I managed.

"How can it be complicated!?" Aladdin clenched his hands, visibly upset now.

I thought of you as of an older brother, was I wrong to do so!? Just tell me, please… Why…"

Aladdin was now crying, tears were running down his cheeks and painting a picture that hurt more that a thousand knifes.

"Why did you lie to me?" The last part what said so softly I almost didn't hear it. But I did, and it was a punch straight to the gut.

Even if I technically hadn't lied… I just never told Aladdin the whole truth…

Who am I kidding? The omission of truth is a lie in its own way.

I just didn't want Aladdin to know the tragedy that claimed his family. And now this secret came to bitch-slap me straight across my face.

"Aladdin, I…" I stretched my hand in attempt to caress his cheeks and wipe out his tears, but he stepped back, out of my reach.

"No. I don't want to hear more lies, not from you, Solomon." With that, he left me, not once looking back.

I let my arm fall back down.

And…

Did you hear something shattering?

Ah.

That was my heart.

* * *

Immediately after our "triumphant" return to Sindria, Sinbad threw a party. I wasn't really surprised. The man seems to be the type to seize every opportunity to celebrate. And get drunk, probably.

We also learned that Al-Thamen launched an attack on Sindria, which we supposed they would, and failed spectacularly. Sinbad may be a lot of things, be he certainly is a force to reckon with.

Anyway, back to the party.

I didn't see that much of it, because I spend most of my time avoiding… basically everybody. I needed some time to pull myself together. Again.

I couldn't really help it, dealing with the aftermath of Ithnan's death and the confrontation with Aladdin, I was slowly reaching my breaking point.

And if I broke apart as I was… well, it wouldn't have been pretty.

From what I know, Aladdin spent the time with Alibaba, Morgiana, and the Kou prince. Which was… good, I suppose? The kids became close friends after the adventure in Zagan, and I was happy for them.

Especially for Aladdin. He'd always been very lonely; that's hardly a surprise, seeing as he grew up in the Sacred Palace alone. It got a little better when I came along but now that there was this… void between me and Aladdin, full of secrets and -lies-, friends were exactly what he needed. And in moments like that, when Sinbad shouldered seemingly all the responsibilities in the world and joy in the air was almost palpable, Aladdin got to be the child he deserved to be.

It made my heart ache with so many emotions; I almost felt like crying.

Oh. Oh my.

I WAS crying…

* * *

When Ja'far found me, sitting in the shade away from the festivities, it was unexpected.

"The celebration is not to your liking?" He inquired, arms hidden inside the long sleeves of his robe.

I paused a looked up at him.

"I've said, back then, that I'm not much of a party goer. But I felt it'd be rude to flat-out refuse, so… this is a compromise, of sorts."

"Hm, I see," he inclined his head, "So you're contemplating your life choices instead?"

I smiled so very slightly.

"Heh. You can say that."

He surprised me by sitting down and offering me a drink. The surprise must have been visible on my face, because he chuckled and said: "You look like you could use a drink."

The fact that I accepted with a soft 'thank you' speaks volumes about my mental state.

"I must admit," I said after a sip of the wine he brought me, "that this is unexpected. I didn't pend you as the type to talk to strangers. Especially strangers your king doesn't like."

"You can read people quite well, Solomon," chuckled Ja'far. Then he continued, face serious: "And you'd be correct to assume this is not solely an attempt to make friends. I do have ulterior motives."

"Well, well…" I tilted my head a little to the side, "Usually, when people have ulterior motives, they don't just admit it aloud like that."

"True. But as you said, my king doesn't trust you," Ja'far's voice was dead serious, "and neither do I. But you're my safest bet. You are an outsider, thus not affected by any binding oaths. And I can at least be sure you won't do anything to Sinbad, unless he does something first, because of Aladdin. Aladdin sees him as an uncle, heavens know why, and you wouldn't just hurt anybody Aladdin likes."

That… logic was sound, I give Ja'far that.

"Speaking of Aladdin," Ja'far paused and glanced at the table, where Aladdin was trying to imitate the performers, "your relationship seems to be a bit… strained, at the moment."

"Yeah, we had a… misunderstanding." My voice was soft as stared at the bottom of my cup, the red liquor inside reminding me of blood. But before my mind could wander deeper into the gutter, I mentally slapped myself and focused back on Ja'far. Because whatever he came to discuss, it was of grave importance.

"All right, Ja'far. You have my full attention now. What is it, that you need the help of a stranger?"

"As you may know," said Ja'far, eyes glistering in the starlight, "I am sworn to protect my king. From all the possible danger. Including himself."

* * *

For the next few days, I haven't seen much of Aladdin, or Ja'far for that matter. Sinbad's right hand was probably trying to make the King do his work. Which, as I already knew, was the standard routine for the two of them. Aladdin, I learned, trained with Yamraiha. Which… wasn't all that surprising, honestly, after the fighting the kids had to do in the dungeon. Striving to improve was a logical consequence.

This also meant that I was left alone with my thoughts and that… was not such a good thing.

" **Would you stop brooding already**?" Hikaru sounded annoyed, but I ignored him. The other Solomon was quiet. He'd been like that since our fight with Ithnan. If I hadn't felt his emotions, I'd think he was gone.

" **Oi. I mean it."** Hikaru was mentally poking me now, which felt really odd.

'And what,' I bit out, harder than I wanted, but then again it's hard to control emotions inside your own head, 'should I be doing then, genius?'

" **I dunno, but not this. This is definitely not good for you,"** Hikaru answered, ignoring my bitter tone.

'You don't say.'

" **You can drop the sarcasm. I've known you for almost all your life, it's not going to impress me,"** stated Hikaru flatly.

'So then, mister not-impressed do you suggest I do? Because I'm a hot mess right now, in case you failed to notice.'

" **Oh I noticed all right, idiot. I live in your head, remember? But you need to calm down and pull yourself together, this isn't helping anybody, least of all you."** Hikaru sounded genuinely worried, it caught me off guard.

'…How…?'

" **Meditation? Self-reflection? Some breathing techniques? You know the drill better than I do, Solomon,"** Hikaru, in his attempts to help me, unknowingly rubbed salt into my still fresh wounds.

'Self-reflection? I know damn well what I messed up, I don't need to reflect on that!" I growled.

" **By the stars, would you calm down?"** I could almost hear Hikaru's eyes roll. Which, mind I remind you, is no small feat for a dragon, **"Yes, you made a mistake. And yes, it blew into your face spectacularly. But that's not the first time you made a mess. You'll learn from your mistakes and fix this, as you always do."**

'That's not the main issue here!' I was getting way too frustrated and emotional, which was bad primarily for my closest vicinity.

" **Than what is?"**

'I broke the other Solomon's trust! I promised him to look after Aladdin in his stead and I messed up! He's a child, Hikaru," I clenched my hand into fists, "and now he thinks I deliberately lied to him. In his eyes, that's the worst betrayal possible…'

"…"

" _No…"_ The other Solomon's voice was so soft I almost failed to hear it, _"You meant well. It is not your fault Ithnan bore so much hatred for me."_

'That's… I still did you a wrong. I though I was protecting Aladdin by not telling him the whole truth; and now our relationship may be well beyond saving.'

" _You did what you thought was best to protect an innocent child. I cannot blame you for that."_

'Perhaps you should.'

" _No. I should and shall not."_

'But you-"

"Um… Solomon?" My mental quarrel was interrupted by Alibaba. He, unfortunately, has the habit of arriving at the least convenient time. But for once, I was glad. I had no idea where the conversation could have headed.

"Yes, Alibaba, what is it you need?" I forced a smile as I turned to face him. Though both of us knew the smile was fake.

"Did something happen, between you and Aladdin? He wants to go to Magnostad all alone…"

Ah yes. That. Another reason behind my foul mood.

You see, Aladdin wanted to go study magic to the magicians' country, which was understandable. After all, Yamraiha could only teach him so much; on top of that, her water specialisation clearly didn't fit Aladdin, who was leaning more towards the fire and heat mage at the moment.

My problem with this was that he wanted to go all alone and incognito. Which… Call it paranoia, or overprotectiveness, I just didn't want him to go on his own. I had a very bad feeling about it.

And last time I had a feeling this bad, I died. So yeah. I was not happy.

"There was a… misunderstanding, of sorts." No way I was explaining the mess to Alibaba, at least not at the moment.

"Aladdin seemed really upset though…" Alibaba nervously shifted his balance.

My shoulders dropped.

"Yeh… The man, in the dungeon we fought, he… said something that he shouldn't, not the way the did. Without context it just… Ugh. Sorry, Alibaba, this is a fine mess I don't want to drag you into," I finished a bit lamely.

Alibaba seemed to understand how awkward I felt so he changed topic of the conversation: "Um. Okay. That's not why I came anyway."

"Oh? And why did you come then?"

"Ever since you helped me get rid of the… dark stuff… I've felt a bit off. Sinbad says that my flow of magoi is partially blocked and he recommended me to find those people… that know how to manipulate magoi, so I can learn it too and… unblock my magoi, I guess."

I swallowed the 'And why didn't Sinbad taught you that since he apparently knows a lot about this, instead of sending you to who-knows where' that was just on the tip of my tongue and waited for the boy to continue.

"And you probably know a thing or two about this, since you were able to help me back then… So I though maybe you could come with me? Also, there's Amon…"

This was quite surprising turn of events, I was not anticipating that. It made perfect sense though, for Alibaba to think I was versed in magoi manipulation. Which, in a way, I was. Magoi was not different from prana, after all. Life energy is life energy, regardless of the name.

And it also made perfect sense that Amon would want to talk to me. Our last meeting was kind of rushed…

"Ah, I see," I smiled again, genuinely this time, and Alibaba visibly relaxed, "Yes. I'd very much like to come with you. Where are we going, and how are we going to get there?" Also when, but probably ASAP. This is not the kind of problem you should postpone.

"Um… Somewhere in Reim, if I'm not mistaken? Sinbad said he'll have a ship ready," Alibaba still seemed a bit tense, I wonder why…

"But er… It's the same ship that's Aladdin using to get to Magnostad… so…"

Oh, that's why.

I sighed.

"Okay, you don't need to worry, Alibaba. It might be a bit awkward, but I'll manage."

"All right then. I'll see you in two days?"

"I'll be there," I waved at the boy as he was leaving. This is going to be an interesting sail, for sure.

I had no idea how right I was.


End file.
